Borderlands 3: Mind and Havoc
by Nightmarcher808
Summary: Follow the story of the genius inventor of Maliwan and his best friend J as they join the Crimson Raiders to stop the Calypso Twins from Opening the great Vault. What secrets does the inventor have and will the berserker follow the righteous or bathe in chaotic destruction? Rated M for swearing and lemons later on. Pairings: OC x Patricia Tanis. OC x Moze.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Inventor and the Juggernaut

At the Atlas corporation on Promethea, the sound of running echoed through the halls revealing Rys, head of the Atlas Corporation trying to escape his assailant only to turn around, trip, and fall on his rear. In front of him walked out the assassin Zero but wearing Maliwan attire as well as having an 'M' logo on his helmet. Zero held his katana in his right hand at the ready before raising it overhead and bringing it down intending to cut Rys in half. Instead of cutting the owner of Atlas, Zero's blade had clashed with an invisible force revealing the real Zero.

The two began to fight in the way of the sword, Moze aimed with her Atlas assault rifle in hand with an Atlas pistol hanging on her right hip. Due to how fast the two were fighting, she could not help Zero in his battle due to the risk of friendly fire. Both assassins fought one another until the real Zero performed a spin swipe which caught the other assassin off guard and knocking his helmet off revealing it to be Katagawa Junior, head of the Maliwan Corporation. Katagawa glared at Zero before taking another swing at him only to force him to take hold of Rys and disappear leaving Katagawa to fight against Moze.

"Well well well. Look at what we have here," A voice called out making Katagawa narrow his eyes and look around along with Moze.

"Smoke?" Katagawa asked before a scientist walked out of the shadows revealing himself as he had his left hand in his pocket and his right hand holding a joint up to his lips taking a nice long drag.

"The one and only man," Smoke answered as he came into the light revealing his form.

Smoke was a male who stood at six feet and one inch tall with an average build and white skin while he had spiky black hair also blue eyes hiding behind a black visor. His attire was combat clothes and a white lab coat with a box of cigarets in his front chest pocket and a Maliwan sniper rifle on his back. Katagawa scuffed while aiming his katana at Smoke.

"We had a deal! I let your little pet go and you never show your face to me again!" Katagawa shouted.

"That was not our deal man. Our deal was that you let me and J go with no problem...because of that, you got yourself the full rights to every last blueprint I had...including prototypes. That was our deal. And let me tell you...I had a lot of blueprints to give," Smoke replied while taking another drag of his joint smiling.

"Speaking of J, where is he?" Katagawa asked raising his head while scanning the landscape around Smoke.

"Oh, you now. Preparing," Smoke answered with a shrug before closing his eyes.

"Are you high or something? I am pretty sure you can't fight up close and personal. That! Wasn't your specialty. I know all of your tricks Smoke," Katagawa said with a grin as Moze took at the head of Atlas Corporation only to be blocked by Smoke.

"Man when am I not high? I got the money to be high all day every day!" Smoke said opening his left eye slightly. "Plus. You never saw me fight man so you have no IDEA what I am capable of. Enough about me though, you said where's J? Look behind man"

"You think I would fall for such a stupid? I may not have seen you fight but I saw how quick your hand is," Katagawa asked only to feel the ground shake slightly followed by heavy breathing.

"Maybe," Smoke answered.

Katagawa quickly turned his body while swiping his katana toward what he thought was J's neck but stopped midway as his sword was caught by a pitch-black robotic hand revealing a short male standing behind Katagawa gritting his teeth.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this," The young male said glaring at Katagawa

J was a young adult male that stood at five feet nine inches tall with a toned body and tanned skin. He had short messy black hair and brown colored eyes as he wore nothing but cargo pants while leaving everything else for all to see. His body was covered in surgical scars and even had a tag he wore around his neck labeled '96' along with a scratched up name with his limbs being mechanical.

"Juggernaut," Katagawa whispered before bringing his foot up to kick J's torso and allowing him to pull his katana out of the male's grasp so he could distance himself.

"That is not my name!" J shouted while gripping his right hand into a fist causing it to ignite and become engulfed in flames.

"It's the only one you have," Katagawa replied with a smirk before jumping backward and sending four digi-clones after the three.

"Moze was it? We're friends of Zero. We'll handle this guy," Smoke assured as he took his sniper out and cocked it with a smirk.

"Reinforcements are always welcomed," Moze spoke before taking looking at the two digi-clones that were fighting J and two more ran toward them.

Smoke smiled before pulling his sniper rifle out and switching to his weapons second function which shot out a tracker grenade that would explode and mark two clones. Smirking at this, Smoke aimed and pulled the trigger of his sniper causing its barrel to start rotating. Moze looked at the clones drawing closer and closer before looking at Smoke who kept his smirk. Just when she was about to open fire, the barrel of the sniper began to spray the two clones with bullets completely tearing them apart and causing them to fade. Although one of the clones tried to roll out of the way, the bullets simply followed it and pierced through the clone.

"What kind of gun was that?" Moze asked eyeing Smoke's sniper rifle.

"A new gun I just finished making. Although Katagawa there had all my blueprints...that don't mean I can make something else," Smoke said placing his gun over his shoulder and looking at Moze.

"What about him?" Moze asked before looking over to J seeing him holding a clone in one hand while shooting the other in the face point blank with a shotgun.

"You mean J? He's fine," Smoke said before looking up at where the real Katagawa was smirking.

Moze looked up to the real Katagawa on top of the building and raised her gun only to be stopped by Smoke who placed his hand in her way. Smoke chuckled and switched the function again but instead of firing it at Katagawa, he fired it upward before taking his sniper and whacking the grenade just like a baseball. This sent the grenade straight toward Katagawa before exploding and marking him. Katagawa's eyes widened at what just happened as he looked down at Smoke who had already primed his sniper grinning.

"Gotcha," Smoke whispered before firing bullets at Katagawa and watched as the projectiles raced toward his direction.

Katagawa was forced to run along the side of the building while deflecting as many bullets as possible but even if they were not shock, it was still tearing away at his shields. Just as he reached the end of the building, he was thankful to be in cover now as the bullet pelted the barrier that he placed himself between him and Smoke's weapon. Suddenly the bullets had stopped hitting his cover causing him to peak out to see Smoke humming calmly and reloading his gun without a care int he world. The Maliwan owner glared at Smoke and took aim with his gun to fire at Smoke but stopped seeing the inventor looking up at him snickering.

"No," Katagawa whispered to himself before feeling a powerful kick behind him sending him crashing into the hard ground as J landed right in front of him breathing heavily.

Katagawa turned and look up at J and scrambled to try and back away from the young male.

"Juggernaut! Enough! That's an ORDER!" Katagawa Jr commanded as he stumbled on to his feet with his katana at the ready.

"I take orders from no one! Not anymore!" J shouted before throwing a burning right jab toward his face.

Katagawa used his katana to block the punch before redirecting it and glided his katana toward J's neck. Instead of hitting flesh, his blade had come into contact with another metal hand but this one was freezing the blade. Widening his eyes, Katagawa pulled his sword back and jumped onto another building with his focus now on J. Looking down at J, he could see fire coming from his right hand while ice flowed from his left. While he was in his train of thought, he heard a sudden clang under him causing him to look down to see a shuriken had landed right between his legs with a soft beeping coming from its base.

"What the?" Katagawa whispered to himself before it eventually exploded and sent Katagawa flying backward and slam into the ground with his shields completely knocked out.

"Alright. Right between the legs. Damn, I'm good," Smoke complimented himself with and nod before walking over to the downed Katagawa.

"Damn it!" Katagawa shouted as Smoke walked up to him taking a short drag from his new joint. "Why?"

Smoke exhaled the gas from his mouth at Katagawa before sighing and squatting in front of him. "Because man...I never respected your way of doing things. The moment you killed your family was the moment you lost all my respect...and also stole my pack of weed. That was the last straw man,"

"What's respect have to do...with business?!" Katagawa asked glaring at Smoke.

"Everything! Without respect, there's no motivation, man. What's the point?" Smoke asked with a soft chuckle.

"What are you...going to do now? Kill me?" Katagawa asked while backing up into a wall groaning in pain.

"Me? Kill you? Nah," Smoke said standing up and dusted himself off while slipping his hands into his side pocket. "I got no beef with you. By the way. Suit Code: lockdown. Password. WeedisLife."

"What?" Katagawa questioned confused before Smoke laughed as the owners zero suit began to spark out of control only to lock itself, and the user, in place preventing him from moving. "What did you do to the suit?"

"You think I would not know my design? I mean I did invent it. Just because I don't have the blueprints does not mean I forgot it. All that is right here man," Smoke said poking his head with his pinky smirking.

"What?" Katagawa asked still not following as he struggled to move.

"...plus I would not want you blowing yourself up or running away from someone who DOES have beef with you," Smoke said nudging his head to behind himself before moving out of the way revealing J standing there with his right fist engulfed in flames and his left being frozen solid.

"J-Juggernaut...come on now...there's no need for revenge!" Katagawa begged.

"No. There is need...for revenge...you've tormented my life...for years," J answered while narrowing his eyes.

"I SHOWED YOU KINDNESS! YOUR PARENTS LEFT YOU FOR DEAD!" Katagawa shouted while gritting his teeth.

"And now...I will return your kindness...in full," J replied while grinning widely. "You will feel a portion of what you did to me."

"No," Katagawa pleaded while shaking his head.

"I will take from you what you took from me..." J started before bringing his right hand up and causing it to burn bright red. "My limbs...and my life."

"B-But you got it back!" Katagawa pleaded while trying to move but to no avail.

"Only because someone gave me a new life. That does not wash away what you have done to my past life. A life of pain and suffering. Although your pain will not be as much as mine...from what Smoke has told me...you treasure your life over everything...even your company. Do not put your hopes up though...I will make your suffering last. I can promise you that," Juggernaut promised while grinning.

Moze eventually walked up beside Smoke to see what was going on. Smoke raised his brows before turning around and bringing his hand over to Moze's shoulder to have her follow him back over to Rys.

"Alrighty then, while my friend is finishing his personal business...who are you?" Smoke asked with his left hand placed over Moze's shoulder and his right hand holding a joint in between his pointing and middle finger.

"Moze. I'm with the Crimson Raiders. You?" Moze asked while moving Smoke's hand off her shoulder.

"Right, names Smoke. I used to work for Maliwan Corporation as head scientist and inventor. Long story short I was let go on good terms," Smoke said while looking up at the sky taking a small hit.

"Good terms?" Moze asked with a raised brow while glancing at Smoke.

"I gave my former boss ALL my blueprints for future weapons, as well as armor and gadgets, in exchange for him to let me off and J free," Smoke explained after exhaling the smoke he just took in.

"Just blueprints?" Moze asked with doubt in her tone.

"That suit is one of the many I created. Kind of a cheap one now that I think about it...idiot must have used a shortcut to make it faster," Smoke said in a disappointed sigh while shaking his head.

"What makes your blueprints so special. For all I know you might be making it up," Moze said making Smoke burst out laughing while coming to a full stop as he nodded his head.

"My weapons will kill...and weed is good. That's my motto. Better to show you than tell you. Actions speak louder than words I always say," Smoke said as Moze came to a stop to turn and look at Smoke bringing her hands to her hips waiting.

Smoke nodded his head as he raised his left hand and snapped his fingers causing a sentry to appear over his left shoulder with yellow sludge dripping from its barrel.

"Corrosive ammunition. I got a gadget for each of the well-known elements. Incendiary and Shock are no exception. Like a boss right? Oh yeah," Smoke complimented himself while raising his arms in the air and applauding himself.

"What about your friend?" Moze asked looking over at J to see a leg fly up in the air followed by it being blown to pieces by a shotgun.

"What about him?" Smoke asked not even looking to his friend while.

"What's his story?" Moze asked turning her attention forward bringing his hands to his sides. "That's his story girl. You wanna know it...you gotta ask him."

Moze stood there silently before looking at J once more seeing him standing up and panting heavily.

"Come on Moze, you came here for something right?" Smoke called out now standing with Rys and Zero.

Moze sighed before looking at Smoke and making her way over to Rys.

"Well done vault hunter. Thank you for saving my bro. That creep is finished, " Zero thanked.

"I didn't do much. Smoke and his friend are the ones who offed him...and with ease too, " Moze admitted while looking at Smoke.

"You kept his attention here...long enough for us to arrive, " J said as be walked past Moze to stand by Smoke. "If he had known we were coming, he would have fled long ago."

The sudden appearance caught Moze off guard causing her to jump slightly.

"Jesus Christ! When did you get here?" Moze asked looking at J than back at Katagawa seeing nothing more than a limbless, faceless body laying on the ground causing her eyes to narrow.

"That was fast. I thought you were going to take your time, " Smoke said blowing out the smoke from his mouth.

"I lost my patience and tore him apart, " J answered while turning around to face Moze while balling his hands into fists. "Except for his face...I burned that off."

"Alright. Chill bro. No need to ball your hands again. We're all cool here, " Smoke said softly nudging J's side laughing softly.

"Is he always aggressive?" Moze asked looking at J.

"...it's a work in progress, " Smoke answered looking over at Moze who sighed and nodded her head as she turned her attention to Zero.

"Zero, where were you?" Moze asked while crossing her arms under her bust.

"Zero here was helping us out in getting here. Not easy sneaking into a Maliwan ship without some help...also he was helping us out with a hunt, " Smoke explained while looking at Zero.

"Could not give us away. Radio silence, " Zero added.

"Like I said, Zero! Super trusted you the whole time, and it was completely justified, " Rhys shouted with a wide smile.

*sneezes* "BULLSHIT! Sorry. Allergies, " Smoke said causing Rhys to laugh nervously while Moze smiled faintly.

"Right. Now. As for you vault hunter. I owe you everything. You've fought off an all-out corporate assault, saved my company and killed my creepy business stalker. But before I give you the key fragment, I have one last question for you. Am I pulling off this mustache or what?" Rhys asked.

Smoke raised a brow and looked at Rhys not noticing the mustache due to certain events and paused for a moment. J did not care about the question and simply stood in silence. Moze seemed slightly annoyed at this and was about to say something until Smoke raised his hand for her to wait a bit.

"That mustache looks really, dope man. I thought the damn thing was real so I never asked, man. It suits you man," Smoke complimented.

"Woe. That's a lot to take in. Thank you...vault hunter. Oh, here's the key fragment, " Rhys said handing Moze the promised item. "If the Crimson Raiders ever need help. The Atlas Corporation will be ready, "

"Alright, thanks. Now, what about you two?" Moze asked pocketing the key fragment away and looking at Smoke as well as J.

"Well, we got nothing else to do. Plus the Maliwan ship we were on kinda blew up so...I don't know...what do you think J? Wanna join the Crimson Raiders?" Smoke asked looking at J.

"So long as no one pisses me off! " J said answered in a calm tone.

"Alright! We're in! Where do we sign up at? Also, I smoke A LOT! Hope that ain't a problem, " Smoke said with a soft laugh before taking a hit from his joint.

"So I see. I'll let command know, " Moze said before walking off to the elevator while pulling out her ECHO-3 to contact her higher-ups.

"Alright, Zero. Thanks for the help man. Would have been hell of annoying without it, " Smoke admitted while smiling softly.

"Not at all vault hunters. That guy was a total douche. Sorry, I could not help with your other hunt, " Zero said with a said emoji appearing on the front of his helmet.

"Nah don't worry about it. They can't hide forever. We found them once...we'll find then again, " Smoke said while closing his eyes smirking.

J only nodded his head to the assassin before the two looked to the elevator seeing Moze was waiting for them. Smoke shrugged with a chuckle before they made their way to Moze's direction to make their way off Promethea.

-Sanctuary 3-

Moze left the pod followed by Smoke and J as they came to a stop and began to look around the hangar bay with curious and cautious eyes. The first person the two saw was none other than Ellie as J could not help but raise a brow while his eyes scanned her up and down.

"How's it going Moze? And who might these fine gentlemen be?" Ellie asked looking at Smoke and J with her eyes lingering on the shirtless man slightly longer.

"New recruits. They can introduce themselves, " Moze answered with a smirk while looking over her shoulder at J seeing a faint smile.

"More help is always appreciated, " Ellie said with a wink.

"Names Smoke. I gotta say though, damn your huge. In a good way of course," Smoke complimented before letting out a soft whistle. "Oh, this here is my buddy J. He doesn't talk much but he's a good man...with anger issues."

"Pleased to meet yall. Names Ellie. Engineer and technician of the Crimson Raiders. If yall need a tone up, let me know, I'll gladly help ya," Ellie said before looking at J smiling.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. So, do we get a quick tour of this ship or do we get straight to work?" Smoke asked with his joint in between his lips as he started to look around again.

"Moze will give you all a quick tour as well as show you to your quarters, " Lilith said revealing herself at the top of the stairs before she began to walk down until stopping right in front of her and placing her right hand on her hip smiling.

"Cool. So uhh who are you?" Smoke asked tilting his head slightly.

"Names Lilith. Leader of the Crimson Raiders. With my name out of the way, mind if I get your names?" Lilith asked with her head raised slightly.

"My names Smoke. This here's my bro J, " Smoke introduced while bringing his arm over J's neck smiling.

"Can you talk for yourself J?" Lilith asked looking at the short juggernaut.

"I don't talk much...due to...anger issues, " J answered earning a slow nod from Lilith.

"Right. So, what're your stories?" Lilith asked looking at Smoke.

"Meh, wanted to follow my childhood dream to be a vault hunter...and here I am, " Smoke answered with a smile.

"And you?" Lilith asked now looking at J.

"Uhh, I don't think..." Smoke started but was stopped as J hit his gut softly with his elbow causing him to cough and groan. "Bitch..."

"I was a lab experiment from Maliwan to become a living weapon. Smoke was able to get me out. Now I owe him my life...and so here I am, " J answered with a calm tone while his left hand slightly balled into a fist.

"Also we need money to either fix J up or for my new gadgets...and weed, " Smoke added while he had his right and over his gut.

"What about your families?" Lilith asked with a raised brow.

"Younger sisters fine. She's safely doing her own thing, " Smoke said with a shrug.

"...my family abandoned me ever since I was born. Left to die, " J answered now balling both hands into fists.

After hearing this from J, Lilith looked at the ground and rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm sorry to hear that...one more question and Moze can give you a tour around the ship real quick, " Lilith said crossing her arms under her bust.

"Ask away, " Smoke said with a smile.

"The Crimson Raiders are a family. We watch out for one another. Can we trust you BOTH to always have our back? No matter what?" Lilith said with a serious tone.

"Yes, we will. Provided they do not betray us or treat me like a freak, " J answered as his tone calmed down.

"Do you speak for your friend as well?" Lilith asked looking at J than to Smoke.

"He won't mind, " J said looking over at Smoke who just gave a thumbs up.

"Alright. That's all I need to hear. Moze, give them a quick tour but remember you still have to give Tannis the key fragment, " Lilith said with a smile before she began to walk to the flight of steps. "When you're finished with everything, meet me at the bridge...all of you, "

"Roger that, " Moze said watching Lilith leave.

"Alrighty then! Let's get this tour going!" Smoke shouted while raising his arms in the air.

"You've already met Ellie. She's the mechanic of Sanctuary 3. She built this entire ship with the help of some engineers. If you have any problems involving machinery, she's your girl," Moze introduced while looking over at Ellie who simply gave a small salute.

"Pleased to meet yall," Ellie said before winking.

"A little warning, the next two members of the Crimson Raiders your about to meet are a bit on the arrogant and rude side. Just don't kill them alright?" Moze warned in which Smoke stood still in deep thought.

"How arrogant and rude are we talking?" Smoke asked with a raised brow while taking a small hit from his joint.

"A bit is an understatement!" Ellie called out while laughing.

Moze only rolled her eyes and nodded her head in agreement.

"J, stay here and chat with Ellie. I'll go greet our new friends," Smoke said looking at J who simply nodded and looked to Ellie who simply leads him to the other side of the hangar bay to chat up a conversation and even tried to flirt with him time to time.

"Smart move," Moze commented as she walked by Smoke's side.

"Well if these guys are as arrogant and rude as Ellie says than I think it would be best not to get this ship torn apart on the first day," Smoke added while puffing out a small cloud of smoke sighing.

"I warned you," Moze said with a shrug as they reached what seemed to be the closet of the hangar bay.

Before Moze could say anything, Smoke moved forward with a smile while squatting down to be on the same level as Claptrap.

"AH! A Claptrap steward bot! I thought these guys went extinct. Cool," Smoke said poking at him only to get his hand slapped away.

"I am Supreme Commander Clapttrap and you will address me as such recruit!" Claptrap spoke before he placed his hands on his sides.

"Supreme Commander? Never heard that rank before but yeah, glad J ain't here. He would've torn your arms off and beat you to death with them," Smoke pointed out while laughing softly.

"He's annoying but he plays his part," Moze said with a sigh.

"Does he now? I wonder what part that is?" Smoke said narrowing his eyes while reaching his left hand out to grab Claptrap's eye but stopped mere inches away. "...another time though. We're in a hurry after all. Good entertainment can't be rushed."

Moze looked at Claptrap who was already shaking from the small exchange of words. Smoke sighed as he stood up and dusted himself off while turning to look at Moze.

"Alrighty then. Who's next?" Smoke asked with a smirk.

"Right this way," Moze said a little unsettled by Smoke's positive attitude before she walked past the scientist and down a narrow hallway to come up to a heavily fortified door.

"Who dis?" Smoke asked before Moze knocked on the heavy door.

"_Whatchu want?!" Shouted Earl from the other side of the door until a slit moved to reveal the lone man's face._

_"I hear the rude but I've heard worse," Smoke said looking over at Moze._

_"I don't got all day skaglicker!" Earl shouted making Smoke's eyes close slightly._

_"I stand corrected," Smoke said before turning to look at Earl. "Sup man. Names Smoke, the new guy in the Crimson Raiders with my pal over there. Just saying hello is all."_

_Earl gave Smoke a long cold look before shaking his head and snarling at the scientist._

_"If you ain't buying anything then SCRAM!" Earl shouted before closing the slit._

_"Friendly," Smoke said jokingly causing Moze to chuckle lightly._

_"Come on. We still got more people to meet," Moze said turning and walking out of the hallway with Smoke following behind her._

_As they left, Smoke saw J already talking to Ellie about repairs and what he needed in case his limbs broke down. Both were doing a simple brainstorm on what could be used for spare parts._

_"Come on J. We got more people to meet. You can talk to Ellie later," Smoke called out as both Moze and himself began to walk up the stairs._

_J looked at his friend and nodded before glancing at Ellie just to bow his head in thanks. With thanks given, he turned and made his way to Smoke and Moze._

"So J, what were you two talking about?" Smoke asked glancing over his shoulder to his friend.

"Repairs to my limbs and how she would be more then delighted to fix me up," J answered.

"And what did you say, man?" Smoke asked with a smirk.

"It was not needed. You already do my repairs for me if I need them. Also, I am more than capable of repairing my limbs if I have to," J answered earning a light chuckle from Smoke.

"Dude she was hitting on you," Smoke said turning around to look at J who had a confused look on his face.

"Hitting on me? She hasn't touched me at all," J countered causing Smoke to facepalm while shaking his head and turning around to face forward.

"So much to learn young grasshopper...so much to learn," Smoke said with his hands behind his back.

"I'm going to punch you in the face Smoke," J warned while narrowing his eyes.

"Pfft, I know you will...but some other time. We have more important things to do," Smoke replied followed by a soft chuckle.

"Meet everyone important?" J asked blinking a little.

"That's right! Much to do man. So much to do," Smoke commented as Moze lead them to the bar and gambling room.

As the three entered, Moxxie would be standing behind her bar supervising her bar but looked at the doorway seeing Moze leading two new faces in. She smiled and walked out of her bar to makes

"Names Moxxie. What're your names sugar?" Moxxie asked as she looked between the two vault hunters.

"Well hello there. Names Smoke...High Smoke," The scientist said while raising his brows to Moxxie.

"And you Sugar?" Moxxie asked looking at J with her head tilted slightly.

Her eyes looked into J who had no emotion nor reaction to her looks making her blink her eyes.

"J," He introduced bluntly while looking at Moxxie.

"A fiery one we got here, " Moxxie whispered while bringing her hand to brush against his chest and down to his abs. "Very Fiery."

Smoke groaned at this while gritting his teeth before Moze pulled J away from Moxxi's hand earning a confused blink.

"Alright, let's go meet another member of the Crimson Raider's," Moze said with her eyes closed.

"Wait? Don't you want to give my slots...a try?" Moxxie said while walking up to Smoke and placing her hand upon Smoke's cheek making him both blush red and laugh nervously.

"I don't see why not," Smoke said walking past Moxxie and to one of her slots in which he inserted the credits to start the game.

The slots sprang to life as Smoke and J watched carefully before three bars of eridium revealed themselves followed by the same picture coming out of the machine.

"Magic hands indeed," Moxxie said pressing her pointing finger to her lips smiling.

J shrugged and did the same after watching Smoke as the machine came to life only for the slots to land on three bandit masks. Moxxie moved back with her hands behind her form as she watched the game spit out a grenade followed by laughter from a bandit. As the grenade jumped out, J narrowed his eyes and quickly slapped it to the corner of the room before it exploded causing no harm to anyone but the corner itself.

"Luck is never on my side. Which is why I only trust my instincts...and friends," J said looking over to Smoke who smiled and nodded his head.

"Hmm come back now you hear me. When you return...maybe I can help you with your...luck," Moxxie said while blowing a kiss to J.

J had no idea what she meant but simply nodded his head and turned to face Moze. She was a little taken aback at how Moxxie's charms worked on Smoke but not J. Moze soon lead them to the other side of the ship and down a hallway coming up to Marcus Kincaid the gun salesmen. The large man looked over to Moze and waved before his eyes locked onto Smoke before laughing loudly.

"Well if it isn't my good old friend Smoke! What brings you here to the Crimson Raiders?" Marcus asked leaning over his counter chuckling.

"Marcus? Yo! Nothing much man. Just joined the Crimson Raiders and well...here I am seeing all the important people on here," Smoke answered walking up to Marcus and as the two shook hands.

"You know him, Marcus?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"Of course! This man here would give me free guns for my business. Because of him, I was able to get a good sum of money until eventually, the shipments stopped coming. I thought you were dead," Marcus said looking at Smoke with a smirk.

"Nah. I just got fired from my job so making weapons have become kind of difficult man," Smoke explained before rubbing the back of his head laughing softly.

"I see. Well since your here why not come back here and upgrade some weapons. Free of charge," Marcus offered now standing up straight.

"Nahh maybe some other time man. Still gotta go chat with Lilith on the bridge...but I'll hold you to your offer man," Smoke said with a smirk. "Oh, snap almost forgot, Marcus, this is my close buddy J. Helped him out and now here he is,"

"Well it's nice to meet you J. Tell me, would he be willing to buy guns? He looks like he wouldn't be interested in any weapons," Marcus asked looking at Smoke.

"Well, he ends up breaking his guns pretty frequently so he will probably be one of your top customers with me around man," Smoke answered crossing his arms over his chest.

"Breaking his guns frequently? What does he think they are? Toys?" Marcus asked chuckling.

"Does it matter? You're getting money right? Plus, there are plenty of weapons out there we're probably going to sell or even give to you," Smoke said with a shrug.

"...alright...but only because it's you Smoke," Marcus said while placing his hands on his hips now.

"Alright well, it was good to catch up with you man. Later on, I'll come over and do some upgrades," Smoke said before waving good-bye before turning to look at Moze. "Next?"

"Alright, we have a few more people to meet and we will be heading off to the bridge," Moze said before nudging her head for them to follow.

J simply followed after Moze up to the next level of the ship and toward what seemed to be a lab. Smoke's eyes widened as he saw the small lab and rubbed his hands together.

"A lab? Are we going to visit a scientist?" Smoke asked looking at Moze who nodded her head.

"She is many things but a scientist is one of them," Moze answered as they entered the medical lab.

Smoke followed Moze into the lab to see an alpha skag laying on a table to eventually see Tannis herself standing in front of a drawing board.

"Smoke. J. This is Patricia Tannis. Tanis, these are the new recruits. Lilith ordered me to show them around as well as have them introduced to everyone," Moze said while looking over to J and Smoke.

Smoke stood there frozen in place as his eyes were locked on Tannis with his mouth almost a gap. J looked at his friend and brought his elbow to his gut snapping out of his daze as well as rub his belly.

"Well, more vault hunters. I am not for long conversations...but welcome," Tannis said with an awkward smile.

"I LOVE YOU!" Smoke shouted unexpectedly causing J to turn around and sock the inventor across his jaw knocking him out instantly.

Tannis and Moze looked at the unconscious inventor while J just glared at his friend panting softly with his hands balled up.

"Dumbass. He should know that yelling triggers me," J said looking at Smoke before rolling his shoulders back as he exhaled the air in his body to calm himself. "He should have learned from the first time he did that."

"Will he be okay? You hit him pretty good," Moze asked looking at J.

"He'll be fine. like I said...he should have learned his lesson from last time," J said looking at Moze.

"Well, that was...unexpected...I'll see to it he is well treated," Tannis spoke while looking at Moze and J before turning her attention back to Smoke.

"I can bring him with us still...although I will be dragging him along most of the time," J said looking at Tannis now.

"He's in good hands. Also, Lilith told me to hand you the key fragment to make the vault key," Moze said before pulling out the key fragment for Tannis.

"Wonderful. I'll get right on it," Tannis said taking the key fragment before walking over to her workbench and start to connect the pieces.

"There are two more people you should meet before we make our way to the bridge," Moze said glancing at J than back at Tannis.

"Is there anything I have to worry about?" J asked with a raised brow.

"So long as you don't give her a reason to fight her there shouldn't be anything to worry about," Moze answered looking at J.

"And done. Here you are vault hunter," Tannis said turning to Moze who nodded her head in thanks as she took the key.

"Thank you...Tannis," J said with a bit of struggle as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Moze looked at J with a raised brow before sighing and softly elbowing his side followed by nudging her head to the door in which J nodded in agreement before the two of them left.

"You aren't used to thanking people are you?" Moze asked glancing at J.

"I am not. Smoke is usually the one who does all talking while I only listen...and learn," J said sighing while looking to the wall.

Suddenly the speakers of the ship came to life.

"Crimsons Raiders, meet up in the bridge," Lilith's voice spoke through the speakers causing J and Moze to look up than at each other before continuing their way to the bridge.

"Maya and Ava will be on the bridge than," Moze explained.

"...can they be trusted?" J asked looking at Moze.

"Yes," Moze replied bluntly before coming to a stop and turning to look at J with her hands on her hips. "How does it feel to speak for your self by the way? Without worrying about your friend interrupting?"

"Strange...and dangerous," J admitted with an annoyed tone.

"Dangerous?" Moze asked with a tilted head.

"Smoke keeps me from saying things that would only cause trouble. I am still learning about...conversing casually. My normal life was robbed from me and replaced with one that only takes life. Juggernaut. That was and still is my name. A weapon," J explained while looking at Moze. "The smallest thing can set me off. Thanks to Smoke...most of my rage or triggers have been eased."

"You are not just a weapon?" Moze said as her arms rested to her sides now.

"Than what am I Moze?" J asked narrowing his eye. "The only life I knew was being a lab experiment to become the perfect weapon."

"Sounds like a soldier to me almost. Minus the lab rat thing," Moze said with a shrug.

" A soldier? I do not know much about the outside world but I am very sure that soldiers are not cut open or their limbs removed for the sake of science. Soldiers are not forced to fight one another to death. I...am no soldier Moze," J explained while gripping his hands into fists before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "...I am sorry."

With that J opened his eyes to reveal his blank expressionless face as he walked toward the bridge feeling it was only up ahead. As J entered the bridge, he looked at Lilith as she was talking to Maya and Ava by the controls of the ship. Their attention turned to J with Maya tilting her head as if seeing almost a mirror image of someone she knew. As they entered the bridge, the door behind them slowly closed.

"Good job killer. It'll be a while before Maliwan forgets the thrashing you gave'em," Lilith said impressed while looking at J and Moze.

"All that credit goes to Moze. All Smoke and I did was kill Karagawa Junior...for personal reasons," J admitted while looking at Moze before turning his attention back to Lilith who nodded her head.

"Humble. A rare trait out here," Lilith commented. "Now, we've got an opening and we're gonna take it. Rhys, where's the vault?"

Behind Lilith, a large holographic form opened revealing Rhys from his neck up.

"First off, I want to say a little something. You saved my skin and the skins of every Atlas employee. And skin's important! Stop saying skin. Right, the vault. It's hidden underneath the Apollyon Transit Station," Rhys answered after clearing his throat faintly.

"It's in the middle of the city? How did no one ever find it?" Ava asked surprised.

"The old Atlas corporation just paved right over it when I took over, but I wasn't about to pop the top on that thing in a populated area. Opening a vault is...messy stuff. But I'll leave that to you, Rhys out!" Rhys explained before the call ended.

"We'll have to be fast. We go in through Skyway by vehicle," Lilith said looking at J, Moze, and Maya.

"Got it. I'll take point with the vault hunters," Maya said looking at J with her arms crossed under her bust.

Lilith looked at Maya and began to discuss with one another causing J to look to Mozie.

"I can sense...a power coming from the other woman..." J said as he looked back at Maya.

"That's Maya. A siren. The one behind her is Ava, her student. From what I've seen, she can hold her own against an army," Moze explained while looking at Ava. "She gets into trouble but she can handle herself pretty well,"

"Siren?" J asked with a confused look.

"I don't know much about them either but from what I saw, a force not to take lightly," Moze answered causing J to nod his head and look at Maya.

"Next vault, we do it together. Once you've got your wings back," Maya said while placing her hand on Lilith's shoulder.

"Alright, Maya-let's go gear up. First vault, what should I bring?" Ava asked with excitement.

"Nope. Stay with Lilith Ava," Maya scolded while looking at Ava which J looked toward the child.

"Seriously? What have I been training for? I'm ready, Maya," Ava said looking up at Maya.

"Not yet Ava," Maya said before turning to look at the vault hunters. " You must be one of the recruits that Lilith was talking about. Names Maya."

"Are you sure it is wise to leave such a child on a ship where she can easily follow us?" J asked looking at Maya. "Her eyes...are filled with determination. People with such eyes will follow through what they want."

"And how would you know?" Maya asked with a smirk.

"Experience," J answered bluntly with his blank expression.

This caused Maya to blink at J's answer before turning her head slightly to look over her shoulder at her student Ava before sighing and looking back at J.

"Your an observant one aren't you? She'll be fine. She still has much to learn," Maya replied before looking around for the second recruit. "Where's the other recruit?"

"He is currently..." Moze started before the door to the bridge opened revealing Smoke walking in with a joint in between the left side of his lips.

"What I miss?" Smoke asked looking around and hands in his pockets as he too entered the bridge allowing the doors to close again.

"Nevermind," Moze said with half-opened eyes.

"Sup? Names Smoke. Vault Hunting scientist inventor, " Smoke introduced himself while taking his joint out and waving it forward before putting back between his lips.

"Nice to meet you, Smoke. Names Maya, " Maya said with a chuckle while SMoke began to scan her form up and down only to nod his head.

"Cool. Cool. So that's a siren tattoo. I've only heard of them but never saw one before. Neat," Soke commented with a smile.

"Alright, are you all ready to open a vault?" Maya asked looking at the three while Smoke blinked at the question.

"Wait what?" Smoke asked looking at J.

"I'll fill you in on our way down to Promethea," Moze said looking at Smoke who nodded.

"While you're at it, fill them in on the Children of the Vault," Lilith said looking at Moze who nodded her head.

"See you planetside," Maya said with a smile

-Promethea: Planetside-

As the three reach Promethea by Lorelei, Smoke was filled in about the situation and nodded his head slowly trying to contain his excitement. Along with past information, Moze also gave them a heads up on who Lorelei is as well as her role in Atlas.

"Let's open that vault," Smoke commented with a wide smile.

"Slag me, you're really openin' that Vault? Good luck! And whatever you find in there...try not to lead it back to the surface," Lorelei said with a smile while shouldering her gun and waving them off.

"Alright, so this catch-a-ride constructs a vehicle that Ellie made herself? Got a truck or anything we can use to transport all of us?" Smoke asked with his left hand in his pocket.

"Sure do," Moze answered as she accessed the catch-a-ride before a technical vehicle was constructed in front of them.

Smoke let out a soft whistle fore nodding his head.

"Very nice, " Smoke commented before looking at J. "Can you handle being in the back J?"

J only nodded his head before Smoke smiled and clapped his hands together. Moze nodded before entering the driver seat of the truck while Smoke got into the turret and J hopped onto the back of the vehicle. Once everyone was inside, Moze started driving off toward their destination.

"Heads up, a, uh, squad of Maliwan holdouts have fortified the access ramp. You'll have to kick them out if you want to get through. I'm sending Atlas forces that-a-way," Rys notified through Moze's echo-3.

"You read my mind, Rhys. Vault Hunters, secure the ramp and push through," Lilith shouted.

"Copy," Moze said before exiting the vehicle along with Smoke and J with their guns drawn and firing at the Maliwan soldiers only for the scientist to unload an entire clip on five unfortunate soldiers before they could fire a single bullet.

"Do we need backup?" Smoke asked as he was in the middle of reloading his gun while J had tackled a soldier to the ground and immediately set him on fire.

"Better safe than sorry," Moze answered while firing at some of the soldiers.

"If you say so. Little heads up, gonna try something out," Smoke warned making Moze get into cover and look at his direction.

Smoke took a long drag of his joint before moving out of cover to sway his left hand and quickly balled it into a fist as he took aim at two approaching Maliwan soldiers. His wrist-mounted flame thrower kicked in but instead of just spewing out fire, lightning was mixed in with the flames breaking shields and roasting the soldiers alive. A crazy laugh escaped Smoke's lips as he slowly moved his shock flame thrower across the field wiping out any Maliwan soldier in a two-meter radius.

J turned to the sound of laughing to see what his friend did before looking down at his own hands in thought only to be hit in the shoulder by a heavy soldier. The juggernaut quickly turned his attention on the heavy and glared at him before making a mad dash toward the pyro heavy. His flamethrowers spewed out fire causing J to dash to the side and avoid the fire before rolling into cover. Gritting his teeth, he swayed his left hand down causing his shoulder to glow white before he ran out of cover and took aim with his shotgun. With a pull of his trigger, he fired white bolts freezing the heavy in place before he brought his right fist down on his form shattering the soldier to pieces.

"These soldiers fight on./ Though their leader has been killed./ Honor them death," Zero through the echo-3 as a group of Atlas soldiers arrived to assist clearing out the remaining Maliwan soldiers.

As soon as the outpost was dealt with, the three vault hunters gathered in front of the gate.

"Well, that was fun. Never thought my gadgets could merge like that,"

Smoke commented before looking at J and Moze.

"You never tested that out and choose to do that here?" Moze asked with an annoyed tone.

"Why not? There were a good amount of test subjects for me to test it on. Worst case scenario, I would have blown my left arm off," Smoke answered with a shrug as J only shook his head.

"Stupid," J commented.

"Well, it worked so...I would say it was smart...after all...I'm not the only one who was testing was I?" Smoke said with a smug look while raising his eyebrow.

"...I thought about it but I would rather test it in a safe area rather than risk a friend," J replied making Smoke blink.

"Always so serious. Alright, I will TRY not to test things out in combat alright. I ain't promising anything," Smoke said with a sigh while shaking his head.

"This barrier's going to be a problem," Moze said standing in front of it with an annoyed expression.

"You seek the highway./ I will clear the path for you./ Cool swords are handy," Zero said as he walked by Moze while pulling out his katana causing its blade to glow a crimson red.

Moze backed up between J and Smoke as the three of them watched as Zero plunged his katana through the barrier causing a loud hissing and static echo from the energy before it shutdown.

"Now that...was cool," Smoke admitted before beginning to applaud Zero's performance.

"Alright, let's move out," Moze commanded in which surprisingly J followed catching Smoke off guard.

He watched this for a few seconds before laughing to himself and following to the tactical and entering the turret once more. Just as they were about to drive off, Moze's echo-3 sprang to life.

"What's up, chucklenuts? It's been a grip. So life update: Katagawa shat the bed, but you knew that already. Troy's whining that we haven't opened the Vault yet, and I can't get properly laid because I keep leeching my partner's to death so...that's a whole thing. Oh, you're busy! It's cool. But let's catch up real soon kay?" Tyreen said through the echo-3 before it cut off.

"So she's a virgin?" Smoke asked with a smile while looking down at Moze smirking.

"Seems like it," Moze answered while shaking her head as they continued toward the station.

-A few minutes later-

As they exit the tunnel, the first thing Smoke saw was a building with a large garage as well as Maya waiting within it with her arms crossed under her bust smiling. To her right laid a platform for a catch-a-ride for Ellie to deliver them a vehicle.

"Heya, badass. You ready to crack open a vault?" Maya asked watching the three Vault Hunters exit their tactical truck.

"You know it," Smoke answered while rubbing his hands together.

"That's what we're here for," Moze said gesturing to herself and everyone else.

J only nodded his head before looking at their vehicle that was a little banged up from the small skirmish than back at Maya. "Will we be using this vehicle?"

Maya only smirked before shaking her head.

"We're getting a better one. Yo Ellie, we'd like to make it to the Vault in one piece. What you got for me?" Maya asked looking up with a smirk.

"Girl, I've been waitin' for you to say that. Get ready for project Double-D!" Ellie said through the Echo-3.

Suddenly, a heavily armored tactical truck constructed itself in front of the four Vault Hunters.

"Hell yeah. Oh, Ellie. Never change," Maya said as she walked up to the vehicle smiling while inspecting it.

"Now this is a ride," Smoke commented with a wide smile.

"Moze, you're drivin'. Need my hands free," Maya said looking at the gunner.

"Roger that," Moze replied.

"I will join you in the back," J said looking at Maya.

"Be my guest. There's plenty of room back here," Maya said gesturing to the bed of the vehicle.

"Guess I'll hop in the turret again. Hey Ellie. Mind if I do a bit of tinkering with the weapon system?" Smoke asked raising his right wrist revealing a communicator in the form of a large watch.

"Smoke. What is that?" Maya asked looking at the inventor's watch. "And where did you get it?"

"This here is a prototype Echo-4. I made it during our trip back to Promethea. It was kind of a throw together so it's the only function is a radio," Smoke answered while swaying his hand about to pull up a holoscreen of Ellie waiting on her answer. "When I have more time I'll tinker with it some more."

"...but you were smoking the whole time," Moze said with a look of disbelief.

"I work better when I'm high...which is all the time actually," Smoke corrected with a soft chuckle.

"A natural builder. Just like our Ellie," Maya said with a laugh while crossing her arms under her bust.

"Usually I don't let people mess with my beauties but I'll make an exception this time," Ellie answered.

"Woo! Alright. Shouldn't take too long," Smoke said jogging over to the front of the vehicle while swaying his hands about like a magician.

"Make it quick. We wasted enough time chit-chatting," Maya shouted while watching Smoke sway his hands about with a raised brow.

"DONE!" Smoke shouted as he looked at Maya with a wide smile.

"Wow...that was fast," Moze commented before the two walked beside Smoke to see what he did but saw no real outside changes.

"Come on. Let's go give this girl a test drive," Smoke said climbing up to the turret seat and sitting down.

"What'd you do? It looks the same," Moze asked looking at Smoke

"Well, that first tactical vehicle we used had a primary weapon system so I installed my sentry into the truck in a means to add corrosive to its ammunition. Easy tinkering. Now the second bit I did it installing a small function into the secondary weapons construction matrix...to add a little vortex into the barrel. Although it decreases its overall damage by a lot, its main role is to keep a target or targets still long enough for the secondary weapons to finish them off," Smoke explained before taking a nice long drag as he looked at the two smiling lightly now.

"Well damn. You are a badass," Maya commented and letting out a soft chuckle before she made her way to the back of the truck while Moze nodded her head before going into the driver's side and starting up the vehicle.

Moze checked to make sure everyone was ready before continuing onward to their destination marked on her Echo device.

"We need some tunes! Let's see what Ellie's got on here," Maya said looking upfront as Moze turned the radio on to hear a sick electric guitar rift.

"Classic," Maya said with a smile as Smoke raised his right fist held up while head banding only for the radio to static and cut off the guitar solo.

"The rift! No!" Smoke shouted while looking down at the radio.

"That doesn't sound good," Maya said tightening her grip on the rail she was holding onto while narrowing her eyes.

"Hey, superfans! What's the hurry? Going somewhere important? You wouldn't mind if I, I dunno, broadcast your location to every manic on the planet?" Tyreen asked through the Moze's Echo device.

"FUCK YOU!" Smoke shouted with an annoyed tone.

"I'll take that as I no. I was going to do it anyway," Tyreen said before cutting off the connection.

"What the fuck was the point of asking?!" Smoke shouted as he leaned is head back. "Where's my rift?!"

"SMOKE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" J finally snapped making a ball of ice in his left hand and throwing it at Smoke's head knocking him forward.

"BITCH!" Smoke shouted as he turned the turret around and looked at J while rubbing the back of his head.

"You want a bigger one?!" J asked gritting his teeth.

Smoke did not reply but simply narrowed his eyes and slowly turned the turret forward without breaking eye contact with J until he was fully facing forward.

Moze could only chuckle while shaking her head at the two friends yelling at one another as she continued to drive. Maya, on the other hand, watched the two and laughed at their interactions as well as their arguing. Suddenly, Moze came to a full stop after she went up a large ramp as two large holographic forms of the Calypso twins appeared in front of them. J and Smoke immediately looked at the twins as if memorizing every detail of their forms.

"So that's what they look like," J said narrowing his eyes.

"Whaaat is up my brothers and sisters! Impromptu stream for you today! Vault Thieves are trying to gank your Vault right from under you. You gonna take that? Or are you gonna show them your sharp teeth? Daggerteeth clan, this one was practically made for you," Tyreen announced before the holograms disappeared as the sounds of engines surrounded them.

"Here they come, let'em have it!" Maya shouted as outrunners, as well as tactical bandits and cyclones, came out of the garage of buildings from the right of them and behind them.

"No need to tell me twice," J said taking out his shotgun and aiming with his weapon as his gun began to turn a mix of sickly yellow and cold white.

"Let's get this party started," Smoke said with a grin as he took a quick puff before taking hold of the turret controls.

As the bandit vehicles grew close enough, Smoke released the first barrel and watched as it glided through the air and crashed into a bandit cyclone. As the barrel made contact, it exploded before quickly turning into a medium-sized vortex sucking in a second cyclone allowing Moze to quickly open fire on the two trapped bandit vehicles and watched as the corrosive bullets shredded through their armor. It took a second before both vehicles exploded.

"Oh yeah, that's my upgrades," Smoke commented as he loaded the second barrel.

Maya and J were also teaming up as the juggernaut shot at a tactical bandit, it not only heavily damaged the vehicle but greatly slowed them down to the speed of a turtle allowing Maya to finish them off with a phase shift. Eventually, they cleared out the bandits and continued onward to come up to a large opening with a couple of bandit towers and a blockade preventing them from continuing.

"Hey, hey, hey, over here. They're trapped. Tear'em apart. For me!" Tyreen shouted as the twin's large holographic forms appeared once more.

"We gotta get these crazies off our back before I can clear the way!" Maya shouted before using her phase shift to lift a mine out of the ground and throw it at a tactical bandit destroying it completely.

"Keep trying. Tyreen Believes in you!" Tyreen said with a smile making J look up at the hologram before gritting his teeth.

"False hope will only kill more of your follows...stupid woman," J spoke with an annoyed tone.

Suddenly his attention snapped to a bandit vehicle that was trying to crash into the juggernaut in a means to try and crush him. Instead of crushing him, it was stopped by his right foot while he aimed at the driver with the gun glowing a faint red before he pulled the trigger. The driver was incinerated before he kicked the vehicle toward a large stone pillar causing the truck to crash and explode killing the bandit that was on the turret. After a few minutes have passed, the clearing had no bandits insight.

"Okay, those guys are on fire now. Don't worry, we'll see them again at the Great Vault. Until then, make those Thieves pay for what they did to your family!" Tyreen announced before their holograms faded.

"Get me near that entrance and I'll clear the way!" Maya spoke with a smirk.

Moze nodded her head before driving in front of the blockade. Maya gripped her right hand into a fist and started to charge her siren powers before firing it at the obstacle that stopped their progress as it blew a hole big enough for them to continue.

"All clear," Maya announced allowing Moze to drive through the hole and toward the transit station until eventually running into another blockade followed by Tyreen's hologram appearing once more with an amused as well as shocked look on her face.

"Ohhh, hiding in the gutter. I've always called you trash, but it's good to see you living your truth now," Tyreen said before laughing softly.

"She's really pissing me off," J said glaring at the hologram as his grip on the rail began to bend under J's tightening grasp.

"You and me both bro," Smoke agreed before taking a light dab.

"I can clear the way again but we'll have to take out these idiots off our back first," Maya notified.

J's rage continued to grow and with each passing second, his arms began to glow a sickening black energy as steam began to flow from his shoulders. Maya used her free hand to block the sudden glow that was almost blinding before turning to look at J seeing his arms were pitch black. As he heard Tyreen laugh again, J could no longer hold in his rage causing him to let out a scream of rage while throwing his gun to the back of the truck and hopping onto the bed of their vehicle with feet locking himself down to prevent him from falling off.

"Uhhh Smoke, we have a situation back here," Maya said looking at J who gripped his hands into fists now while closing his eyes.

"What situation?" Smoke asked before looking over his shoulder to see J's arms glowing a pitch black now. "Oh. That situation."

J's eyes shot open as he looked at the closest bandit vehicle and quickly punched toward their direction shooting out a large corrosive ball that tracked the enemy truck. As soon as the corrosive ball slammed into the truck, it exploded almost immediately before J quickly turned his gaze to another bandit vehicle and punched with his left fist firing a pure white ball toward it. When this ball crashed into the vehicle, instead of destroying the vehicle, it froze it in place before he punched his right fist again destroying it completely. Maya watched wide-eyed before J began to rapidly send a flurry of punches at any enemy vehicle he saw killing every bandit. After a minute had passed, there would be no bandit in sight aside from frozen figures locked in place.

"Maya. Let J get the blockade this time," Smoke advised as Moze drove toward the wall.

Without the vehicle stopping, J unlocked his feet from the bed of the truck and jumped up over Smoke to fly over his form. J screamed with rage as he brought his left hand to his right shoulder causing his right fist to glow both yellow and white as he slammed his fist into the blockade. For a second nothing happened before the point of impact froze which spread like wildfire only for it to decay a second later. Moze had stopped the vehicle as soon as she saw J come into view as the three watched his display of power.

"Yo J. You okay buddy?" Smoke asked looking at his friend seeing that the arms had lost a small bit of its glow causing its normal grey color to show but only slightly.

J slowly turned his body to look at Moze than up at Smoke before jumping over his friend again and land on the bed of the truck causing it to shake slightly. The three Vault hunters held on as to not hit their head or fall off before J's arms finally shifted back to normal.

"The way is clear," J said turning to look forward. "As for you question Smoke...no...I am not okay...just give me some time and I will,"

"Alright, man. Just checking," Smoke said as he was looking over his shoulder at his friend before looking forward.

Soon enough, Moze came to a slow stop a smaller tunnel was seen up ahead.

"Pretty sure this is our stop," Smoke said climbing off the turret and hoping down along with Maya and Moze before the four Vault Hunters met at the face of the tunnel.

"Transit Station up ahead," Maya notified before taking lead with Smoke and J being at the back.

-Apollyou Transit Station-

As the Vault Hunters exited the tunnel, the first thing they saw was the logo of the CoV placed onto the station's front.

"Damn it. They're already here," Maya shouted with an annoyed tone.

"That's right, you dumb sharp-tarps," Tyreen's voice said through their echo devices. "We've had our followers combing the city for the Vault since before you got here'"

"Tch. Idiots. Did you really think you were going to beat us to it?" Troy added with a snicker.

"...uhh...but we have the key. Even if they found the Vault, they can't do anything. They made it easier for us to find it," Smoke explained while looking at Maya and Moze with a chuckle.

"Exactly. The Vault is ours," Maya commented with a confident smile as Smoke looked to his friend to see steam coming from his shoulders again along with his entire body glowing a sickening black.

"Uhh J? You okay man?" Smoke asked with a nervous laugh.

Maya and Moze turned slightly to see J glowing black.

"Smoke. What's going on?" Maya asked looking at J while bringing her hand up to block the bright light along with Maya.

"He's pissed! TAKE COVER!" Smoke shouted before jumping behind a large crate with Maya and Moze following behind him.

As they got into cover, a loud explosion took place behind. As the sound died down, Smoke peeked out of cover to J who was clad in full heavy black armor with steam coming from his mouth and shoulders now. His image was almost like that of a heavy but more built and taller.

"Well that's not good," Smoke whispered before taking a small dab.

Just when Moze was about to ask something, the sound of shooting and screaming came from the transit station. J's attention snapped toward the direction he was shot at and let out a booming scream before leaping at the bandit that shot at him as he disappeared into the crowd of bandits.

"Oh thank god. Yeah. We're staying out of this fight," Smoke said turning to look at the wall and sitting flat on his ass taking a long dab now as the sounds of explosions took place as well as body parts being flung everywhere.

"What the hell just happened?" Maya demanded as she glared at Smoke who was just chilling.

"J snapped and is on a killing frenzy. When his rage hits a certain peak this is what happens. This isn't the first time this happened either...nearly got myself killed last time I tried to fight by his side when he was in this state," Smoke explained while shaking his head.

"What do you mean this isn't the first time this happened? You never thought to tell us this beforehand?" Maya asked looking over the cover to see a badass bandit with a large arm rush toward J only to be torn in half with ease.

"Yup. Now as for telling you this bit of info, I kind of did. I said we were working on it. Never thought it would get out of hand this fast..." Smoke said closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the crate.

"Will he be okay?" Moze asked looking down at Smoke.

"He'll be fine. Thankfully he can't keep that form. When he runs out of steam he should turn back to normal," Smoke answered opening his left eye slightly to look at Moze who nodded her head and turned to look at J who ran through a volley of bullets like nothing before continuing his slaughter.

"I'll be honest I was getting kind of worried," Smoke said with a laugh.

"Why do you say that?" Moze asked looking at Smoke with narrowed eyes.

"You don't see what he's doing? If it wasn't for the bandits, we would have to be fighting him. In that state, he doesn't see friend or foe...he just sees things he can kill...and does it," Smoke said looking up at Moze with an annoyed look. " Do you think we can take him?"

Just as Maya was about to answer, the yard had suddenly become deathly silent in which all three of the Vault Hunters peeked out of the cover to see J standing in the center breathing heavily. Around J laid either frozen pieces of bandits, yellow goo, ashes, or burnt bandit parts. J was still clad in full black armor but remained unmoved and even worse, unharmed in which Smoke went back into cover sighing while tapping Maya and Moze to get back into cover.

"Where's our next destination?" Smoke asked looking at Maya.

"The train station. Why?" Maya asked with a raised brow.

"I'm going to have J clear out the transit station for us. It should be enough for him to blow off the steam he had against the Calypso twins," Smoke said before crossing his legs and taking a long dab of his joint before blowing out its contents with a confident smile. "Let's do this."

Smoke snapped his fingers causing his sentry to form over his left shoulder before he brought his right hand to tap the right side of his visor. This allowed Smoke to see what the Sentry sees while using his left hand to move the sentry before it flew out and stayed in cover as to not attract J's attention to soon. After a few seconds passed, Smoke could see the entrance of the building and nodded before using the sentry to peek out of its cover to be a few inches away from J's face. The inventor held in his scream and shot J in the face before avoiding a swift right swing from him as the sentry flew into the building. As soon as the sentry entered the building, Smoke could see a group of bandits already preparing to fight whatever came through the doors before his sentry was swatted out of the air by J.

Moze and Maya peeked out of cover to see J was no longer in the yard as flashes could be seen coming from the transit station.

"Your plan..." Moze started until she turned around to see Smoke had his right hand raised in a means to stop her for a bit as he took in a deep breath.

"HOLY SHIT!" Smoke let out while throwing his head back and accidentally slamming his head to the crate earning a loud groan from the inventor.

"What was that for?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"...when my sentry...went out of cover...J was right there...I nearly pissed myself," Smoke admitted as he brought his left hand to rub the back of his head only to laugh a second later. "That was fucking awesome,"

"...really?' Moze asked before shaking her head. "Nevermind. So when are we heading in?"

"Hold up...let me catch my breath," Smoke said as he started to cough a little before standing up to his feet and dusting his rump off while looking at Moze with his sniper at the ready."Alright, let's go."

"Well, it's gone silent a second ago. Think it's safe?" Maya asked looking over at Smoke who only shrugged.

"Only one way to find out," Smoke answered before Maya nodded her head in agreement.

"Let's see what J left for us," Maya said as she leads the team to the entrance of the building to see the same display of chaos like the yard but this time without J anywhere insight.

"J's not here," Smoke announced as he took a small hit and looked around the ground.

"How do you know?" Moze asked looking at Smoke.

"That," Smoke answered as he nudged his head to the tunnel ahead of them that had a trail of dead bandits.

"That works," Moze said before looking at Smoke who followed the trail before Moze and Maya followed close behind.

The three Vault Hunters followed the trail until it suddenly ended with J standing in front of them with his back turned and his bare skin being visible again.

"J? You good man?" Smoke asked with his gun placed on his back while he swayed his hand at Moze and Maya as if asking them to lower their weapons that were trained on J.

They reluctantly did as asked before they lowered their guns.

"I'm good," J answered as he looked over his shoulder at the three with his arms also back to normal.

"Good to have you back bro. You had us worried for a bit man. For a moment I thought you were going to come out of the tunnel and murder us," Smoke joked as he brought his hand up and pat J's shoulder.

"The Vault is close now. Whatever power is inside, the Eridians locked it away for a reason. You must not let the Children of the Vault acquire it," Tannis notified through their echo devices.

"Alright, you heard her gang. Let's get that Vault," Smoke said with a giddy voice as he walked past J with Maya following after him while Moze stopped by J's side sighing.

"If we knew you were that destructive, we would have sent you in first to clear the field of enemies," Moze said jokingly before turning to look at J.

"...that would be a bad idea," J said before following after Smoke and Maya.

"It was just a joke man," Moze said walking beside him.

"...what's a joke?" J asked coming to a stop and looking at Moze.

"Something that makes you laugh," Moze explained with her hand on her hip and head tilted to the side.

"...I don't get it," J said looking at Moze.

"What don't you get?" Moze asked leaning her head to the side.

"...your joke...I do not get why it would make me laugh," J answered before walking past her and meeting up with Smoke and Maya.

The four arrive at the entrance to the vault to see an Eridian surveying the area with its back turned to them.

"What the hell is that?" Moze asked looking at the Eridian with her gun at the ready.

"Guardians. They protect the Vaults from anyone crazy enough to open one. They won't be happy to see us," Maya informed the team while smirking.

"I heard about them. Beings made of pure energy. This should be easy," Smoke said swaying his left hand to create his arc star before bringing out his gun and slapping it on the left side of the weapon smirking.

"Tannis?" Moze asked looking at Smoke.

"Tannis," Smoke confirmed with a chuckle.

"Makes sense. You were left alone with her when J knocked you out. Still makes me laugh just thinking about it," Moze said with a smirk.

"Alright, so J use code 01," Smoke said while looking over his shoulder at J who did as told causing his right shoulder to glow yellow with his left shoulder glowing blue.

"Let's get to that Vault," Smoke said loading his gun.

After the group had eliminated every Eridian that got in their way, they finally came across the Vault of Promethea.

"Wow. Wasn't sure I'd ever see another Vault. I'm glad you brought me back," Maya thanked with a smile while Smoke walked by her side smiling.

"That goes for me and J too. I never thought I'd be able to see a real Vault," Smoke said with a proud smile.

"Imagine all the people who lived out their lives on the surface above, never knowing they were standing on top of this," Maya said with a light chuckle.

"What about this thing that could be in the Vault. Will we be ready?" J asked looking at Maya.

"We'll be ready," Moze said looking at J with a confident smile causing him to nod in approval.

"Are you all ready?" Maya asked looking over at J and Moze.

"Yes," J said bluntly causing Maya to look forward at the arc.

"Good, that arch is the entrance. Put the key in that pedestal," Maya instructed while taking the key out and handing it out to whoever wanted to open it.

Smoke immediately took the key before making his way to the pedestal as he inserted the key and watched it sink into the stand.

"Get ready!" Maya shouted while preparing her phase shift powers.

"Come on. How tough can this thing be?" Smoke asked as he laughed and turned to look at Maya than back at the arc with his weapon also at the ready.

The arc came to life as nothing came out making Smoke chuckle and shake his head. A second later, the Rampager ran out of the Vault and started to pound the ground. Smoke's eyes widened at the large creature before starting to open fire on it.

"HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!" Smoke cursed as he rolled out of the Rampager's charge before getting to his feet and running back to the group.

/To be continued...

Alright, I will be ending it right here everyone.

Stay tuned for the next chapter on how they deal with the Rampager.

Till next time everyone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Plans and Violence

As Smoke avoided the Rampager, J narrowed his eyes before launching himself forward with his right fist pulled back and taking a deep breath only to release a roaring war cry. The Rampager looked at J as his fist was engulfed in flames as he brought his knuckles to the monster's head knocking it back and staggering it.

With the monster in its moment of daze, Moze took this chance to hop into her Iron Bear with its right weapon being a powerful rail gun while its left limb was equipped with rocket pods. Smoke turned and swayed his hand to create his arc star before throwing at the Rampager's face watching as it exploded making it scream in pain.

"Roar at that bitch!" Smoke spoke before tripping and falling on his rear making the Rampager charge toward the inventor. "...fuck..."

Moze opened fire on the Rampager's face making it howl in pain before jumping over Smoke with its arms raised to bring down on Iron Bear. As the Rampager was in midair, Moze brought her mech suits arms up to block its slam forcing Iron Bear to fall to its knee.

"Damn this thing is tough!" Moze shouted before J ran up the monsters back and jumped up clasping his hands together mixing both fire and shock before he brought it down on Rampager's head dazing it again.

"Push it back!" J shouted before jumping off the monster's head while Moze screamed and pushed the Rampager back as she watched it collapse onto the ground.

"Is it over?" Smoke asked as the Rampager laid motionless. "Welp just in case," He said as he walked up to the dead monster with a sigh.

"Isn't that overkill?" Moze asked looking at Smoke.

"Better safe than sorry," Smoke replied as he performed all three motions on his right hand to spray the motionless beast with a large electric, corrosive, flamethrower that coated the creature's entire body.

It quickly released a powerful roar that pushed Moze and J back while Smoke was sent flying back and landing on his rear.

"Damn!" Smoke spoke before getting back to his feet and watching the Rampager get back to its hands and feet while its neck drew longer to that of a jackal. "Holy shit that is fucking awesome!"

"SMOKE! FOCUS!" J shouted as he got into a boxing stance glaring at the Rampager.

The Rampager glared at the three before opening its mouth and releasing a powerful roar firing a wave of corrosive energy balls. Smoke rolled into cover while Iron Bear braced itself. J, on the other hand, rolled his right shoulder back causing his shoulder to glow bright green as a sign that he switched his elemental damage to corrosive. With his right arm corrosive, he raised his hand to catch the line of corrosive energy balls heading his way and smirked as it was absorbed into his shoulder. Smoke blinked at this before shaking his head.

"How the fuck did you know that was going to work?" Smoke questioned.

"I didn't," J answered before tucking his right fist back and punching forward sending a corrosive energy blast back at the monster and watched as it took the blast full on.

J only stood there with narrowed eyes before the Rampager jumped while its open maw raced toward his form. As the jaws of the beast grew closer, J brought his left fist forward to uppercut the Rampager dealing shock damage. Smoke took this chance to take out his Gatling rifle and open fire on the beast, watching as it raised its right arm to block his bullets.

"This thing is tough!" Maya shouted while phase-locking its head so Moze could continue to fire away at its body along with Smoke.

With three Vault Hunters focusing on the Rampager's form, it did not take long before it broke out of Maya's phase-lock and transformed one more time. This time when it roared, everyone was launched back into either a pillar or a wall with wings growing on its arms. Smoke groaned as he forced himself up and looked at the floor seeing his pack of blunts scattered on the ground and torn apart. A burst of soft laughter escaped Smoke's lips as he placed his sniper on his back and grinned widely making J turn toward his friend.

"Uh. Is Smoke going to be okay?" Maya asked looking at the inventor than at J while Iron Bear walked back to them.

"He's pissed," J answered rolling his left shoulder back switching it to frost.

"Why is he pissed?" Moze asked reloading her weapons as J narrowed his eyes to see Smoke's pack of weed on the floor crushed under the Rampager's feet.

"The monster ruined my friend's pack of weed. He treasures them a lot and as such takes care of them until he uses them. Due to that, many bandits lost their lives as well as anyone trying to bring harm to us," J said with a sigh. "Just watch out for friendly fire."

"Friendly fire?" Maya asked looking at J before Smoke pulled out a rocket launcher that shot a single puck at the Rampager and hitting it square in the forehead doing little to no damage but at the same time coating it in red light.

"YOUR FUCKIGN DEAD!" Smoke shouted before a barrage of five rockets that flew directly toward the Rampager's face and slamming into it causing the monster to stumble backward.

"Take it down!" Maya shouted as she phase-locked its chest to keep it in place.

This allowed the Iron Bear to move to the left while Smoke ran the opposite way showing both were moving around it. While the three were keeping it busy, J glared at the Rampager as it fired a stream of flames from its breath that raced toward the lone juggernaut. Grinning lightly, J rolled his right shoulder having it shift back to its incendiary damage before raising his right hand to start absorbing the fire. Even though he absorbed the Rampager's attack, he had a feeling that it was resistant to its own element right now until a thought came into mind while rolling his left shoulder to have its element switch to frost.

"Hope this doesn't bite me in the ass," J whispered to himself before placing his right hand over his left as he started to mix fire and ice.

Maya looked at J feeling it becoming suddenly hotter to see that he had created a small ball of heat surrounded by ice before he fired it toward the beast.

"GET TO COVER!" J shouted before running behind a pillar as Maya released the Rampager to move into cover with Iron Bear bracing itself once more and Smoke hiding behind Moze's mech suit.

As the ball of energy connected with the Rampager, it suddenly spiked outward in a flash of light forcing everyone to close their eyes. Once the light had died down, Moze opened her eyes to see a frozen statue of the Rampager before it shattered revealing its body was still whole but its eyes completely lifeless. Smoke peeked out from behind Moze along with Maya and J who gathered to look at the dead beast.

"Dude the hell?" Smoke asked looking at J with a raised brow. "Let me guess. You had no idea if it would work or not?"

"...I did not know..." J admitted while looking at the dead creature.

"That...was a masterpiece of badassery! Seriously, good job," Maya spoke with a smile while looking at the dead Vault monster.

"I mean we had some surprises but nothing we can't handle," Smoke said digging in his pants pocket to pull out his last blunt her had hide just in case.

"How many of those do you have Smoke?" Moze asked as she exited her heavily damaged Iron Bear as it faded away.

"A lot. I'm just someone who hates to waste goods," Smoke answered while placing it between his lips and lighting it with his flamethrower smiling. "Plus, it seems your Iron Bear can use some repairs. If you want, I am sure Ellie and I can fix her right up,"

"I would appreciate that," Moze spoke before looking at J who knelt before the dead creature and his right palm on its forehead. "What are you doing J?"

"Praying for the beast. It was a good fight," J answered before standing up and looking at Moze. "You also fought well Moze."

"Thanks. It comes with the experience," Moze said with a smile.

"Hell yeah! That was awesome!" Ava shouted as she walked out of her hiding place looking at the dead creature.

"Ava? I told you to wait on the ship. It isn't safe for you here!" Maya scolded in while her apprentice was simply looking around in amazement.

"And miss a chance to see a real Vault? Look at this place!" Ava replied in excitement.

"Ava, you're not a Vault Hunter yet! There's a lot more to it than running headfirst into danger!" Maya continued while walking over to Ava.

"Right, yeah, totally," Ava responded while still looking around.

Maya groaned and shook her head before looking at the Vault Hunters with her hands on her hips.

"Vault Hunters, you should go inside. Take your time. I need to have a chat with my apprentice," Maya spoke as she looked back at Ava.

"This place must be, like...a hundred years old. Maybe even TWO hundred!" Ava shouted while raising her hands.

"Ava...we need to talk," Maya spoke in which Ava only nodded and continued to look around.

"Alright well, I' ma head in and check the inside of a Vault out. Wanna join me Moze?" Smoke asked looking at Moze while walking toward the Vault's entrance.

"What about J?" Moze asked looking at J who was sitting down on the ground with his eyes closed.

"He's going to rest a bit. It's rare for us to stay in a long drawn out fight. As tough as he is, when it comes to endurance in a fight...he kind of lacks that," Smoke answered standing out of the Vault's entrance with a smile.

"You don't say," Moze spoke before turning and walking toward the Vault leaving the three behind as Smoke entered inside first.

-With Smoke and Moze-

'Vault Hunter? Can you hear me? Do not panic! I am simply testing a new communication device based on Lilith's powers. It seems ECHO cannot penetrate the bounds of the Vault, so I am forced to use this. I am curious to know what you find in there,' Tannis spoke which made Smoke freak out for a brief moment before realizing it was the scientist, he met on Sanctuary 3.

"Yeah. Her voice still gets me good," Smoke said with a soft sigh as he continued to walk forward.

"About J. Are you sure he's okay?" Moze asked looking at Smoke as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Why? Worried about him?" Smoke asked with a chuckle while glancing over his shoulders at Moze smirking.

"Is it wrong to worry about a member of your unit?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"Not really...I've seen how soldiers act with one another but yours is a little too...casual," Smoke commented before facing forward causing Moze to look away while blushing softly. "Be honest with me. Are you interested in J?"

Moze looked at the ground remaining silent making Smoke laugh again.

"Cause I'll tell you what. I am very interested in Tannis," Smoke spoke with a chuckle.

"We know Smoke," Moze said with a faint smirk while shaking her head.

"I'm just saying. Woo... man...that's a woman...and I ain't shy to say it either," Smoke said with a smile. "You hear me Tannis! I love you!" Smoke shouted as he stopped in front of what looked like an altar with a single device floating in the center of it.

'Uhh right, although I appreciate your affection, we must get back to our umm...duties. The Vault Map led us here for a reason. There must be some significance to this device,' Tannis spoke making Smoke inspect the device himself before taking it into hand and narrowing his eyes.

"Well from my point of view it looks like some kind of gauntlet of some kind," Smoke spoke before handing it to Moze who blinked.

"What?" Moze asked looking at the device with a raised brow.

"I don't wanna wear it. I already got one. So here ya go," Smoke said with a smile in which Moze sighed and stretched her left arm out in which the inventor slide the device onto her forearm. "Looks nice."

As soon as Smoke backed up, the device faded away making Move blink her eyes before bringing her opposite hand down on her forearm to feel that it was now gone.

"That's weird," Moze admitted in which she looked at Smoke than toward an eridium pile before walking up to it and getting into a boxing stance.

"Whatcha doing?" Smoke asked before Moze brought her left fist toward the pile as the device reappeared and allowed the gunner to crack the eridium. "Woo."

Moze smirked before punching it again causing the pile of eridium to shatter into pieces. Nodding at her actions, he looked at the device before it faded away again.

"Uhh you wouldn't mind me asking if I can have that back, would you?" Smoke asked with a nervous laugh.

"Not a chance," Moze replied before walking off to start opening the chests.

"Welp can't win them all," Smoke commented before he started to loot the chests as well.

-With Maya, Ava, and J-

"Ava. I'm trying to keep you safe," Maya spoke with a worried look in her eyes.

"By just ditching me on the ship?! You said I could be a Vault Hunter like you! You promised!" Ava countered.

"You will! When you're ready!" Maya replied in an attempt to calm her apprentice down.

Suddenly a beam of fire fell upon the dead Rampager corpse revealing the Calypso twins standing on it.

"What's up bitches? Ohhh, Troy! Look what they left for us!" Tyreen spoke with an excited smile.

"Thanks for doing all the hard work. Man, you Vault Thieves only think with your trigger fingers, huh?" Troy asked with a smirk over his lips.

"Keep this up and I'll be a god for real," Tyreen spoke before chuckling causing Troy to turn and look at his sister.

"Uh-WE'LL be gods," Troy said with a raised brow.

"That's what I said. Now...let me do my thing," Tyreen spoke before she started to drain the Rampager's life force causing it to howl in pain.

"No! What are you doing?!" Ava shouted as she jolted forward only for Maya to grab hold of her apprentice.

"Taking what's ours. See, the monster don't protect the power of the Vaults. They ARE the power of the Vaults," Troy explained while looking at Ava.

"And now it's all mine," Tyreen said as she finished draining the Rampager's power while standing up and looking at her right-hand grinning.

"Hey, save any for the 'parasite?" Troy asked looking at his sister

Tyreen only shook her head with a hint of annoyance before teleporting to her brother. Both twins smiled before grabbing one another's inner forearm as Troy started to drain energy from his sister.

"We're leaving. Now," Maya warned while holding Ava back.

"We SHOULD be kicking their assess!" Ava shouted trying to break out of her mentors hold just as the twins finished sharing their power.

"So, who's the brat? You I get, but what's her deal?" Tyreen asked looking at Ava with a raised brow.

"She's no one. I'm your problem," Maya spoke as a means to pull their attention away from her apprentice.

"I'm gonna be a siren, and then I'm gonna mop the floor with assholes like you!" Ava shouted glaring at the twins after she broke out of Maya's grasp as they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"You're gonna be a... pahaha! Is that how you think it works? Honey, you're not even gonna leave this place," Tyreen said before teleporting in front of Ava to grab her by the throat and lift her off the ground grinning.

Maya narrowed her eyes as she swayed her right hand up to captivate Troy in a phase-lock before pulling him over to her and drive her fist to hit gut knocking the air out of him. As Maya released Troy from her phase-lock, she got him into a back headlock and glared at Tyreen.

"Let. Her. Go," Maya warned while bringing her right hand to Troy's throat.

Tyreen narrowed her eyes for a second before she gave way and released Ava from her grasp.

"That's what I thought," Maya said before Troy brought his hand against Maya's arm beginning to quickly drain her life energy.

"MAYA!" Ava screamed in which J opened his eyes from his light slumber with his eyes pitch black of rage while Tyreen knocked Ava to the side to walk toward her brother.

"Be...ready..." Maya whispered before she screamed in pain as her body turned to mush on the floor.

"NO!" Ava screamed while stretching her right hand out to her faded mentor before getting back to her feet and pulling out her assault rifle only to be phase-locked by Troy who smiled with confidence.

Just as Tyreen was about to say something, a black figure stood behind Troy. Tyreen's eyes widened causing her brother to blink and turn around slowly to see Juggernaut standing over him before being swatted to the side. Troy skidded off the ground before Tyreen brought her hands together and fired a beam of fire from her palms pushing Juggernaut back.

"What...is...that?! I thought they killed the Vault monster?" Tyreen questioned as Juggernaut released a booming war cry before slowly pushing his way through the Calypso twins' beam.

"Whatever it is...it's no match for us," Troy spoke before phase-locking his form.

Juggernaut looked at his body than at Troy before using its left arm to block Tyreens attack while aiming his right arm at him and firing a blast of focused fire in his direction. Troy's eyes went wide before Tyreen teleported in front of him and created a barrier to block the fire.

"I'm getting real tired of this guy," Tyreen admitted before gritting her teeth and putting her full strength into a counterblast that pushed through the Juggernauts fire beam.

Juggernaut's eyes widened as Tyreen's beam crashed into his right arm and tore it apart in mere seconds causing him to scream in pain. Troy smirked before releasing Juggernaut from his hold only to bring it back but on his opposite arm and tearing it off. Ava watched in horror as her fellow Vault Hunter was being torn apart making the Calypso Twins look at each other then back at Juggernaut grinning.

"Too much for ya? You're the one that asked for it!" Tyreen said before firing her beam again and blasting his right leg off.

"Don't start a fight you know you can't win," Troy continued using Phase-lock to tear his last leg off causing Juggernaut to fade and reveal J fall to the ground unconscious.

"J!" Ava shouted before running over to him.

"J's his name? Well, we will be keeping a sharp eye on that one for sure. Till next time Vault Thieves," Tyreen spoke before the both of them laughed as she took hold of her brother's shoulder and teleported out of the Vault zone leaving Ava holding onto J.

Just as the Calypso twins left, Smoke and Moze came out of the Vault to see Ava passed out on a limbless J.

'Maya...she's gone. Grab the girl and J than get back to Sanctuary III. I'll...tell Lilith,' Tannis warned.

"She's...dead...Maya's...dead..." Ava whispered as she opened her eyes slightly to look up at Smoke and Moze.

"What happened?" Smoke asked running over to Ava and his friend.

"...the Calypso Twins...they took the life energy...from the monster...the monsters from the Vault...are the power...I heard...everything...before...I lost it. Sorry I couldn't avenge...Maya kid," J spoke looking up at Ava.

"Less talking more napping. I gotta get you back to the ship and start putting you back together man," Smoke said with a laugh while holding in a scream of rage as J blacked out.

"Can you walk Ava?" Moze asked bringing her hand out to help the apprentice up.

Ava nodded her head and took Moze's hand while Smoke took hold of his friend and picked him off the ground to lob him over his shoulder.

"Good thing there is a fast travel station...right?" Smoke said looking at Moze who nodded her head while Ava took the Gunners hand as she was helped to her feet.

"Let's get out of here. When we get to the ship, I will be in Ellis' area to try and fix up my buddy," Smoke advised earning a nod from Moze and Ava. "Just a heads up is all,"

-Sanctuary III-

As Moze and Ava went to the bridge, Smoke made is way to the hangar bay to start working on fixing up J. With Ellie going to the bridge as well to mourn for her friend Maya, Smoke was left alone to rebuild J's limbs. He had gone to his room to pick up some materials he had stashed away as well as a new pack of weed. By the time he had returned, he started to work on not only repairing J but also improving his past work. Eventually, Moze and Ellie came down to see the hangar bay filled with the scent of weed as well as smoke.

"What in tarnation's is going on in here? Did a gas line break or something?" Ellie complained before Moze waved her hand about.

"Nope. Just me working hella hard here," Smoke answered as he activated his sentry to start blowing the haze away revealing that the inventor had created four skeletal structures of his friend's limbs.

"Damn Smoke. I knew you were a genius and all, but I didn't think you were this much? It would normally take at least a few days for me to make a skeletal structure of J's arms and legs, but you did it in under a few minutes," Ellie complimented in which Smoke nodded his head.

"Thanks, but I could still use some help. Moze, I 'm sure you got some things to do right? Leave J here with me and Ellie and he'll be back up and tearing shit apart in no time...but better. Think you can handle the mission by yourself for now?" Smoke asked as he glanced over at the Gunner while his hands continued to move on their own.

"Yeah, I can do a lot on my own. Just get him back up to full power alright. We're going to need all the help we can get against the Calypso twins," Moze said before making her way toward the drop pod.

"Are you sure you wanna let a little lady like her go off on her own?" Ellie asked looking at Smoke while moving to his side while looking down at the drawn-out blueprints he had created.

"She can handle herself. Even if her Iron Bear is messed up, if she plays smart, she won't need to use it, " Smoke commented before looking back at his plans and sighing heavily. "I'm missing a lot of parts."

"Well, what do you need Smoke? Let me know and I'll get 'em as fast as I can," Ellie spoke with confidence in which Smoke nodded his head with a smile.

"Weapons...lots and lots of weapons. Preferably shotguns," Smoke said looking at Ellie grinning. "Go to Marcus and tell him I have a massive broomstick order. He'll know what I mean, and you can get the grunts to bring it down all down to me. I'll handle the rest."

"How much guns we talking here?" Ellie asked with a raised brow.

"A lot. Probably ten crates of weapons," Smoke answered.

"Do you have that kind of money? I don't remember Marcus giving away weapons for free without payment," Ellie said with a shrug.

"I have the money for it. I have a lot of money to burn and Marcus is more than happy to help take em off my hand...thankfully he is a reasonable man," Smoke said looking at Ellie. "Can you do that for me, Ellie?"

"A shit ton of guns coming right up," Ellie said with a smile before wobbling off to talk to Marcus as Lilith came down and looked at Smoke putting together some parts onto J's new limbs.

"How's J?" Lilith asked standing by Smoke's side now.

"He'll be fine. I won't lie. This is the most banged up I have ever seen him. Sure, he would mess up a limb but never get them shattered...and he got all four of them destroyed. And here I thought J would be able to take them on if he got pissed. Shows how naive I was," Smoke said before stopping his work and letting out a heavy sigh as he turned to look at Lilith. "I'm sorry for Maya...I would like to mourn her but with my buddy like this...I can't just leave him like this or give him mediocre replacements. He deserves more than that,"

With that Smoke went straight back to work before stopping again.

"...if only I was there maybe J wouldn't have gotten so messed up," Smoke whispered before going back to work. "Don't you have more pressing things to do than hang with an inventor and a limbless soldier?"

Lilith stared at the unconscious J before she nodded her head in agreement as she walked off back to the bridge. As she got to the steps, she came to a stop and looked over her shoulder at Smoke.

"Good luck in repairing your friend," Lilith said earning a nod from Smoke.

"I don't need luck...all I need is weapons and weed. Lots and lots of weed," Smoke said while getting back to work.

Half an hour passed before Ellie returned with crates of weapons purchased by Smoke's credit as he started to disassemble the weapons and put them onto J's new arms and legs. He had an outline out and even more so a more controlled method of J's juggernaut state which he set a strict code for. His rage would be the same, but he would be able to tell the difference between friends and enemies now. After an hour passed, Smoke was covered in sweat as he not only finished the limbs but also completed installing them which was the hardest part due to the screams of his friend.

"Alright, buddy. Your all set. How do you feel?" Smoke asked his unconscious friend. "J? Come on man don't play any games with me here."

J remained motionless on the table before Moze returned to an unconscious body.

"What's going on?" Moze asked looking at the table and walking over to it.

Just as Smoke was about to answer Moze, J groaned and opened his eyes to see his friend as well as the gunner by each other.

"...that...was the most painful experience...I have ever had...and ever will have," J said glaring at his friend.

"Hot damn he's alive. You tough son of a bitch. You gave me a scare man," Smoke spoke before lightly punching his friend's shoulder before pulling his hand back and shaking it slightly. "Alright man, I'm dying to know. How do you feel?"

J raised his hands to his face to see that they were almost human-like if it was not for the white coloring as well as cylinders on his forearm that popped out only to sink back into his arm. He gripped his hands and watched as a double barrel sprang out of his knuckles. Smoke chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest while backing up along with Moze allowing J to slowly sit up and look at the double barrels poking out of his knuckles.

"Powerful...yet comfortable," J answered as he got to his feet to find his legs were the same color as his arms.

"Yeah, this time I took the time to really get you out there. Not Katagawa's sloppy mess. I wanted to change but every time I got the chance you would say no, or it was fine. Seems fine wasn't good enough in the fight against the twins was it?" Smoke asked with a raised brow. "But now what do you say, buddy? You think you can take them now?"

"...what weapons did you add into my limbs now?" J asked looking at his arms before slowly looking at his friend who chuckled slowly as he walked over to a board and snapped his fingers creating a holographic blueprint.

"I thought you'd never ask," Smoke said before going into a full detail rundown on his new limbs he had created.

From what the inventor pointed out; J no longer needed to bring an actual weapon to his missions since his arms were literally a weapon. All he had to do was activate a code and his arms would transform into it. Sadly, the only weapons he could use were shotguns as long-range was not J's style of fighting or more accurately, killing. He still had his functions to change his elemental damage but what was different was that he had eight different types of shotguns in his arms. Not stopping there, he made his legs more durable as to increase his stamina and speed to allow him to rush more aggressively.

"...what about my rage?" J asked looking at his hands and narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, trust me. Your rage is no longer a problem...for us...but for everyone else who is not marked as a friendly by Lilith or us...sucks to be them. You no longer have your large bulky form. I scrapped that without a second thought...which makes you that much more deadly," Smoke explained.

"...when can I test out my new limbs?" J asked looking at Smoke.

"I don't know. Where are we at on missions Moze?" Smoke asked now looking at the gunner who blinked at looked between the two before sighing and nodding her head.

"I rescued Hammerlock with the help of other Vault Hunters. Now we're going to meet up with Hammerlocks sister Lady Aurelia Hammerlock at the Jakobs manner," Moze explained.

"Oh, is she in for a surprise," Smoke said taking a long drag of his blunt before blowing it out slowly.

/To be continued...

Oh, snap. J gets an upgrade after getting…well...wrecked.

I hope everyone is as excited to see what he can do in the next chapter.

Please leave a favorite part in this chapter for motivational purposes.

Mahalo Nui everyone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Memories and Death

"So Moze, where we at right now?" Smoke asked taking a small hit from his blunt and blowing it to the side.

"Baroness Aurelia Hammerlock, the CEO of Jakobs Corporation is paying us to leave the planet," Moze said with an annoyed groan.

"I am sure she said more than that," Smoke said walking up to Moze with his hands on his hips smirking.

"Yeah, she did...but I don't feel like saying any of it," Moze replied making Smoke nod his head.

"Meh not worry. I can do that for ya," Smoke said snatching the gunners Echo-2 while swaying his hand over it.

"What are you doing?" Moze asked glaring at the inventor.

"Keep your tights on soldier. I am just curious about what else she said okay?" Smoke said with a chuckle while bringing his completed Echo-3 and hummed as he placed it over Moze's.

After a second had passed, a wire shot out of Smoke's device and into Moze's and watched as a screen opened up to replay the Baroness' message.

"Vault Hunters! I am Baroness Aurelia Hammerlock, CEO of Jakobs Corporation. I've just been informed that you rescued my brother. Disappointing. It's a family affair, and you've no business interfering. That said, Vault Hunters are nothing more than whores, so I will simply pay you to leave the planet. Come to Jakobs Manor to negotiate your price," Aurelia spoke making Smoke bust out in tears as he started to laugh hard.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's Aurelia alright. HA! She never changed," Smoke said with a soft sigh. "What a bitch..."

"You've met her before?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah. I've done business with her once. Took one transaction to screw up our entire contract," Smoke said shaking his head.

"Was this before or after you quit your job of being an inventor for Maliwan?" Moze asked crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Pfft, this was before I even joined Maliwan Corporation. I was an inventor for hire, and she hired me to make her an elemental weapon. Being the young, high, and smart dude I was, I made it for her. She took it and kicked me out...without paying...she even took my pack of weed with her when she did it," Smoke admitted while shaking his head.

"She stole from you?" J asked with a raised brow now.

"Like I said, man...I was young and high," Smoke replied looking at his friend.

"...and stupid..." J finished making Smoke chuckle while nodding his head.

"Yeah fine. I was also a little dumb," Smoke agreed with his hands raised in defeat. "But thanks to this I think we can get her back. What'd Hammerlock say about her deal?"

"She's going to backstab us the moment we get to the manor," Moze answered.

"Yep. That is just her nature to do something like that," Smoke said with a heavy sigh.

"So kill her?" J asked looking between the two.

"I say go ahead but Hammerlock still has hope for his sister so maybe...keep that on the low," Moze said shaking her head while looking at J.

"...AND THAN KILL HER!" Smoke shouted with a wide smile.

"Really?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"What?! She deserves it! Come on J back me up here man," Smoke said looking at his friend for back up.

"She sounds extremely annoying and overconfident...I want to kill her," J said before gritting his teeth.

"See! He gets it," Smoke said with a smile making Moze and Ellie shaking their heads while smiling.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Moze asked while bringing her hands to her hips.

"You can take us to Jakob Manor!" Smoke suggested with a smile while walking over to Moze's side and nudging her arm softly.

"After Iron Bear gets fixed up. You all saw firsthand that Iron Bear can take a beating as well as dish it out," Moze said looking at Smoke. "I tried using her during the fight against Hammerlocks Warden...Iron Bear couldn't even move let alone be of any help."

"I don't know. You're only looking to fix up your Iron Bear mech right? No improvements or anything?" Smoke asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah. Only repairs," Moze repeated making Smoke roll his eyes and shake his head.

"Boring. Pretty sure Ellie can do it without me," Smoke said as he closed his eyes and placed his hands behind his head smiling.

"Hey!" Ellie spoke putting her hands on her hips.

"Do you want to modify the Iron Bear?" Moze asked a little annoyed at Smoke's attitude now.

"...I would not know where to begin," Smoke said opening his left eye slightly to look at Moze who only glared at him.

"Help her Smoke. If you and Ellie work on it, the task should be completed in an hour...minimum," J spoke up causing Smoke's eyes to shoot open and look at his friend.

"You're taking her side?" Smoke asked surprised at J's explanation before looking at Moze to see that she was also shocked at his intervention.

"Help her," J repeated while glaring at his friend.

"Alright fine. You win. I'll help repair her Iron Bear. What about you two? What are you going to do while Ellie and I get to work?" Smoke asked sighing heavily while rolling his shoulders back.

"Seeing Smoke in action on something as complex as J there's limbs...I'm sure it will take us bout ten minutes tops for simple repairs...not too sure about modifications though," Ellie added.

"Are you sure you don't want me to modify Iron Bear a little?" Smoke said with a nervous smile.

"Can you?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"Pfft, please. I saw your Iron Bear in action, and it piqued my interest. Tell me what you want on her and I can add it in," Smoke said with a chuckle.

"...what can you do?" Moze asked narrowing her eyes.

"What can I do? Moze, I can add in weapons like no tomorrow and even strengthen Iron Bears armor, so it doesn't get messed up so easily," Smoke started while rubbing his hands together. "I mean I can make Iron Bear's weaponry switch,"

"What do you mean switch?" Moze asked with narrowed eyes.

"What type of weapons can an Iron Bear unit use exactly?" Smoke asked swaying his hand and creating a holographic blueprint for Iron Bear.

"A minigun, grenade launcher, railgun, flamethrower, rocket pods, and bear claws," Moze answered as she watched Smoke sway his hands about creating images of the weapons she mentioned.

"Alright I can think of two ways to make all those weapons work out for your Iron Bear," Smoke started as he looked at Moze. "There's the conventional way where Iron Bear will have a portable armory for itself...like a backpack."

"Sounds dumb..." Moze admitted making Smoke chuckle before taking a long drag of his blunt and releasing it out with a satisfied sigh.

"And I agree. Which is why we ain't going that route," Smoke said putting a large X over the backpack idea and pulling out another design. "Instead of a backpack, we just put it all on. Some will be fused while others will be as they are but in a different area."

"Different area?" Moze asked confused about the idea.

"Here," Smoke spoke before widening the design revealing the railgun being placed on the right shoulder while the missile pod was placed on the opposite side. "You see, the railgun and missile pod will be on the shoulders."

"What about the grenade launcher, flame thrower, and minigun?" Moze asked looking at Smoke now with her hands on her hips.

"The grenade Launcher is good alone so that's going under the left arm," Smoke answered.

"You mean on the left arm," Moze said while shaking her head.

"I know what I said. It will be going under the arm rather than being the arm. Gives Iron Bear room to use her claws," Smoke corrected with a smirk.

"...that would make it more convenient," Moze agreed while looking at the design while rubbing her chin with her left hand. "But that leaves out the minigun and flamethrower."

"Does it? I am sure that Iron Bears' right arm will be perfect for a flaming revolver," Smoke said with a laugh.

"A flaming what?" Moze asked with a confused look.

"It's a fusion of the minigun as well as the flamethrower...but deadlier," Smoke explained while opening a separate holoscreen to show the minigun spewing out a stream of fire that stretched to twenty meters. "YEAH BABY!"

Moze watched wide-eyed at the display of power before shaking her head and clearing her throat.

"How would you be able to increase the range of the flamethrower?" Moze asked eyeing the flame revolver.

"Well there's the standard flamethrower oil but that ain't what you're going to use soldier. You're going to be using a special oil I created myself...not only is it more powerful but it reduces the risk of it exploding on you like the heavies the Maliwan Corp uses," Smoke explained while tapping the holoscreen and revealing the substance the Iron Beam would be using.

"How long would it take for you two to make these modifications?" Moze asked crossing her arms under her bust with narrowed eyes.

"...mmm with Ellie here working with me...I would say about...half an hour," Smoke said causing Ellie and Moze to stand there motionless.

"What?" Ellie asked breaking the silence.

"The reason why I could not make J's limbs so fast was that his body parts are a lot more advanced than Iron Bear's. Not only that but I got the blueprints for the Iron Bear when I first saw it in action against the Vault Monster," Smoke said making Moze shake her head.

"When did you get Iron Bear's blueprints? How? You were fighting all the time!" Moze questioned a little surprised at the inventor's statement.

"Like I said. When we were fighting the Rampager. While we were fighting it, I had my wrist scan your mech when I was close enough," Smoke said looking at Moze than back to the blueprint design.

"So while yall are going down there giving them hell, me an Smoke will be busy fixin up your baby," Ellie said with confidence.

"...I'll leave you two to it then. Come on J let's head down there," Moze said walking toward the pod with the berserker following behind her.

-Eden-6-

As they both arrived back at Eden-6, they made their way toward the Jakob Estate only to come across the Children of the Vault. While Moze was in the back-opening fire on the CoV, J was tearing the CoV apart with mere punches, kicks, and grapples. He left the shooting to Moze to test his newfound upgrades as well as its limits. So far, he found that his limits were unknown once more which allowed him to reap every CoV he encountered. Although, his main focus was none other than larger enemies as Moze walked up by his side to see a mangled CoV Goliath.

"Sucks to be him. Come on, we got more work to do," Moze said looking at J and nudging her head to have him follow her.

J nodded his head and walked toward the gondola with Moze before being called by Wainwright on Moze's Echo-2.

"I'm nearly inside the manor, by way of a rather tight underground passage. Jakobs Estate has more entrances than a harlot at a bordello for squids, if you don't mind the tight squeeze," Wainwright spoke before pausing for a second. "Speaking of suckers, while you distract Aurelia. I'll search the cabaret in the Theater Wing. My father had a study hidden underneath the stage. If there's a clue to the Vault Key, it'll be there,"

"What did we miss?" J asked looking at Moze as she started the gondola.

"Aside from the Baroness paying us to leave. The clue to the Vault Key is in the Jakobs Estate...and Wainwright is going to get it for us while we keep the backstabber busy," Moze explained as the gondola arrived at its destination allowing the two to walk off and toward the Manor.

"Makes sense..." J replied while nodding his head.

"Let's get this over with then," Moze said with a heavy sigh as she pushed the doorbell of the estate as a holographic face image of Aurelia appeared in front of the doorbell.

"Right on time, Vault Hunters. Please, do come in," Aurelia spoke before the hologram faded and the door unlock itself.

"That evil harpy can even make proper hospitality sound sinister. Just go along with whatever she says," Wainwright spoke making J grit his teeth.

"I don't like this," J commented while looking around.

"Same here," Moze spoke as she slowly started to look around the hallway as the two continued.

"I'll be with you in just a moment. Wait for me in the dining hall, and we'll discuss your payment...whore," Aurelia whispered the last part while talking through a speaker making J quickly slam his left fist into it breaking the device.

"I want to kill her," J said narrowing his eyes.

"We'll have to wait and see," Moze said looking at J before walking upstairs to the dining hall with J behind her. She eyed the door for a long second before taking hold of the door handles.

Before her hands could touch the door handles, they were both enveloped in energy and lifted off the ground followed by the door opening and revealing Troy. Moze's eyes widened in fake surprise as she looked at Troy while J simply kept his annoyed look on his face. He smiled and pulled the two into the room smiling while a hologram of Aurelia stood by his side as Troy laughed softly.

"You should see the looks on your stupid faces!" Troy said before he looked at J and laughed harder. "And what do we have here! Here I thought you would be nothing more the scrap last time my sister and I tore you apart...speaking of parts, those look brand new,"

"The Vault Thieves! As promised!" Aurelia spoke gaining his attention.

"Not bad, Baroness. But you still owe us a Vault Key," troy said with an annoyed tone.

"I am working on it as we speak. Well, I will leave you to your fun. Good doing business with you, Vault Hunters," Aurelia spoke before looking at the Vault Hunters with a smile as the hologram faded away.

"This is...awesome. We haven't really had a chance to really get to know each other, huh? Ty's been doing most of the talking. She does that, right? She's the center of the galaxy and the rest of us sort of...orbit around her. But...things are changing. freakin' look at me! Ah, I've never felt so good in my life! Wha-What is this? What is this? Your siren friend? She didn't know what she had! With this power...I can pull the stars out of the goddamn sky. Y'know, Tyreen says we should let you keep playin' along. Yeah, a little competition gets our followers all RILED UP! But I'm not one of 'em. No, not anymore. And I'm done gettin' table scraps," Troy said while looking at Moze and stretching his right hand out to grab her head grinning.

"Fill your hands, you zealot scum!" Wainwright shouted from the second-floor balcony before firing his shotgun at Troy making him stagger backward and releasing the two. Moze fell on the ground while J landed on his feet with a faint grunt.

"Ohhh...oh, I'm going to KILL you!" Troy shouted pointing at Wainwright.

"Come and get me you rat-faced bastard!" Wainwright shouted before running off and Troy chasing after him.

"So...new plans?" J said walking over and helping Moze off the ground.

"New plan! YOU search the cabaret! I'll keep this punk-ass rat boy runnin' around like a jabber with its bunghole on fire!" Wainwright said through the Echo-2.

"That answers that," Moze said looking at J than forward hearing the sound of CoV coming in. "Seems we have company. Ready to wipe them out J?"

J raised his hands to his face before looking over at Moze grinning.

"I am," J said before they both looked down the hall as the CoV were starting to pour in.

"With your upgrades...it shouldn't be hard to get to the marked location," Moze said raising her Echo-2 device and revealing their destination toward the theater.

-Theatre Room-

After countless minutes of Moze and J tearing the CoV apart room by room and hallway by hallway, they finally arrive at the theatre of the Jakobs Estate.

"I lost him! Vault Hunter, the cabaret theatre is up ahead. Push through!" Wainwright said over the Echo-2 comms.

"So our objective is right ahead," Moze added while going to her knee and checking her ammunition. "You should do a system check on your limbs to see if there are any minor damages."

"No damage," J said rolling his shoulders back while watching Moze.

"Well seeing as no more CoV are coming in. My only guess is there might be an Anointed up ahead," Moze said with an annoyed sigh.

"A what?" J said with a raised brow.

"Anointed. A juiced-up version of a CoV empowered by the Calypso Twins. Fought one back when I was breaking Hammerlock out of prison," Moze spoke before standing back up and sighing heavily. "They are powerful but not impossible to kill."

"From what I learned in the labs...if it can feel pain...it can die," J said bringing his right fist into his left palm smiling.

"I like that attitude J. Now let's move it. Faster we get done, the faster we can get out of here," Moze spoke cocking her assault rifle with a smile.

The two walked into the theater to see a lone Goliath come from behind the curtains holding two assault rifles just like any others until his body was engulfed by purple energy.

"Hey, Vault Thieves. Wanna see something your Siren friend couldn't do?" Troy spoke through Moze's Echo-2 as the Goliath started to levitate off the ground. "Yes! Let my power flow through you!"

J watched with wide eyes as the Goliath grew bigger as well as turn purple with his skull revealing itself. Once the Goliath finished transforming, the field around its body vanished allowing it to fall to the ground followed by releasing a booming war cry. Moze did not waste any time to bring her assault rifle out and begin to open fire on the Anointed CoV causing it to grunt in pain before quickly looking at them and snarl.

"I think I'm pissing it off!" Moze shouted as the Anointed hopped down off the stage and stretched its hands out only to clap them together firing a wave of energy at them.

J quickly took hold of Moze and jumped over the wave of energy before landing safely on the floor.

"I could have done it myself!" Moze shouted before shoving J away just as the sound of more CoV was heard coming into the theater.

"Can you deal with the normal bandits?" J asked looking at Moze.

"What about you?" Moze asked narrowing her eyes at J only for the Anointed to appear behind them before grabbing the berserker and throwing him at the stage of the theater. "J!" She shouted before turning her attention back at the Anointed and watched as he laughed and tried to grab Moze's body while she was shooting at him.

"Burn!" J shouted from behind the Anointed as he jumped up into the air with his right fist engulfed in flames before descending toward the Anointed's head.

Moze saw this and rolled out of the way causing the Anointed to look over his shoulder to watch as his head was hit by J's burning knuckles.

"I got the Anointed. Keep the small fry off me while I take this fat guy on," J answered looking at Moze before turning his attention back to the Anointed that was trying to grab him by jumping off his body and landing on the ground. Once he landed on the ground, J started to fireballs of fire from his right fist and lightning bolts from his left.

"Get back here!" The Anointed shouted before vanishing in a purple flash and appearing right in front of J with his arms raised over his head. "Smash you good!"

"Smash who good?" J asked as he rolled forward away from the Anointed's slam before slamming his left-hand into the ground grinning.

Looking at the large target, he looked at the ground and switched his left hand's element to frost as he kept his hand on the floor. A second later, the stage started to freeze over which was ignored by the Anointed as he raised his hands out of the ground only to slip and fall on his rump. Seeing this chance, he launched himself over the Anointed with his hands raised over his head. Over J's head, an orb of red and white energy formed before he slammed it onto the Anointed's body freezing his chest but nothing more.

"C-C-Cold!" The Anointed shouted before swatting J off his body and getting back to his feet.

"You're a tough one..." J commented while watching the Anointed lean his body back and let out a roar followed by eight flaming skulls appear in front of the Anointed before flying toward the berserker's direction. "Let's see if Smoke kept the early function." He said stretching his right hand out while opening it wide watching as a small red orb appeared that acted as a vacuum to absorb the fire skulls.

"What?" The Anointed asked in confused as J slowly closed his hand grinning while eyeing the Anointed.

"I return your rage with my own," J spoke while his entire right arm began to glow a crimson red.

Seeing that he still had the absorption function, he ran toward the Anointed but watched as he clapped his hands together sending another wave of energy toward him. Seeing the wave so close to him, he brought his left hand up to defend himself but instead his legs transformed and fired a Jakobs shotgun under his feet launching him up over the wave only to fall flat on his back.

"That's new," J said while looking up at the ceiling before he saw a large hand quickly take hold of his head and lift him off the ground laughing.

"I crush you," The Anointed commented before hearing J laugh softly and bringing him closer to glare at him. "What funny?"

"Stupid," J spoke as he brought his right hand to grab hold of Anointed's head and firing a point-blank blast at the skull of the CoV causing his skull to explode followed by the Goliath's body started to turn into an eridium statue.

"Took you long enough," Moze joked as she walked up and punched the eridium statue with her gauntlet shattering it and allowing J to land on his feet groaning.

"Whatever! Kill as many Anointed as you want. I'll makin' 'em. My army is endless. But you know what? I've got more important crap to do," Troy spoke through the Echo-2 before laughing.

"Yo J, how are things going man?" Smoke asked coming from J's right shoulder. "Sorry for the surprise but I had to try out your Echo-3 embedded into your shoulder."

The two looked at his right shoulder in thought before a small holographic form of Smoke appeared and laughed.

"Any other surprises we should know about?" Moze asked with a chuckle while J glared at his friend.

"Relax. From the readings, I got from J's activities. I'd say he's running good and tearing shit up," Smoke commented with a chuckle.

"How?" J asked causing Smoke to sigh and shake his head.

"Just because I am working on something doesn't mean I ain't keeping an eye on you J. Gotta make sure everything is working fine and dandy," Smoke said with a smile.

"As Moze said...any other surprises?" J repeated.

"Welp unlike your old limbs, these have a gun almost everywhere," Smoke answered while crossing his arms over his chest while leaning his head back feeling pride in his work.

"What's the point in having a gun in every place on J's body?" Moze questioned with her hands on her hips now.

"Not everyplace. That would be fricking stupid. Almost every place!" Smoke corrected. "Doing so will increase mobility as well as effectiveness on the field. It will take time for you to master it, but I am sure you got time to learn,"

"Do we?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"Although J here ain't the smartest person around, he is the deadliest," Smoke commented. "He'll get master his new limbs eventually,"

"And if he doesn't?" Moze questioned.

"He will. I know he will," Smoke said before sighing heavily and nodding his head. "Alright I'll let you two get back to your objective...in a few more minutes Iron Bear should be complete, and I will meet up with you two,"

As Smoke finished talking, his hologram faded away leaving the two alone again.

"Well seems you have a lot more on your plate than you expected J," Moze said with a sigh in which he nodded his head in agreement.

"He means well," J said before raising his right hand and slowly gripping it into a fist.

"Alright, we still have work to do," Moze said just as Wainwright tapped into her Echo-2.

"Right! Now that rat-boy's out of our hair, let's get to business. The trap door to my father's study has a trick latch. You'll need to figure out the solution. Get up to the technician's booth," Wainwright spoke in which J walked up onto the stage and narrowed his eyes.

"I am going to brick through the trapdoor," J warned as he started to walk around with Moze shaking her head. "We do not have time to wait...like you said...the faster we finish here the faster we leave here,"

Moze groaned before nodding her head while watching J walk about the stage feeling around for the trapdoor.

"Now hold on a minute. I already had that harpy tear up my family's home. I don't need it torn apart anymore!" Wainwright argued before J came to a stop at the center of the stage and gripped his hands into fists.

The berserker raised his right foot off the ground before quickly bringing it down to the floor firing a Jakobs shotgun downward while his left foot locked him in place as to not have him fly up like before. As J's right foot came down, the trapdoor would break open allowing the berserker to hope down and look around.

"I'm not entirely sure. My father said he kept all his records down there. Look for something..." Wainwright paused unsure what to say to finish his sentence.

"We'll keep a lookout Wainwright," Moze replied after landing behind J and looking around.

As they searched the study, Moze came across a bookshelf beside a bed and taking a closer look at a skull by it. Placing her hand on it, the bookshelf shifted and moved back before sliding out of the way.

"Of course! He meant record literally! That record's as old as Jakobs Corporation, and I got the only ligno-phonograph player in the entire system. If he wanted to leave me a message, that must be it! Bring it on back to the lodge, Vault Hunters!" Wainwright pointed out as Moze took the record off the wall and nodded.

"Inbound back to the lodge," Moze said before looking at J and nodding her head.

A second later, the wall that held the record crumbled revealing a hidden exit to use to leave the Manor.

"Convenient," J commented as he looked at Moze before looking to the entrance and taking lead.

As they neared the exit, Moze's Echo-2 sounded off revealing it to be Aurelia.

"Leaving so soon? Very well. Let me explain myself. You mean nothing to me, so I sold you to the Calypso Twins. But so you know, I will get the Vault Key. Because I'm rich, and rich people get what they want," Aurelia explained in which J gritted his teeth.

"She should know that death does not discriminate between rich and poor...he simply just takes..." J whispered to himself.

"She will get what she deserves but first we need to get this back to Wainwright," Moze said nudging his head before taking lead and causing him to follow her a second later.

As they were making their way back to the lodge, they got another message from Smoke as his hologram appeared over J's right shoulder again.

"Just popping in just to tell you that Iron Bear is finished," Smoke said with his arms crossed.

"Is she battle-ready?" Moze asked looking at Smoke.

"I'm sure she is but you'll have to see for yourself," Smoke said with a chuckle while scratching his belly.

"Can I call her in?" Moze asked a little taken back.

"I don't see why not. Ellie and I already put on the finishing touches," Smoke replied with a proud smile. "She's proud of her work as am I,"

"If you say she's good to go then that's all I need," Moze said with a nod.

"I do however have a small surprise for both of you when you call Iron Bear. I hope the surprise is a good one," Smoke said with a chuckle.

"Smoke...what did you do?" Moze and J asked glaring at the inventor.

"You'll have to find out next time," Smoke said with a soft laugh before the hologram disappeared.

/To be continued...

The upgraded J…what is the surprise for Iron Bear?

Find out next time everyone and as always let me know your favorite part.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Destruction and Offers

As Moze and J were making their way back to Wainwright, they stumbled upon Smoke who waited outside with his hands in his coat pocket and a blunt between his lips. He looked lost in thought at first glance before the inventor caught sight of his two friends. Pushing himself off the wall, he [pulled his left hand out of his jacket and waved at them with a smile.

"Took you guys so long? Talking about stuff?" Smoke teased while slipping his hand back into his pocket while snickering.

"We took a detour," J spoke up catching Smoke's attention who raised a brow. "Practice,"

"...oh yeah that's right! Your new limbs. You'll get there eventually buddy. No doubts about that," Smoke said laughing loudly before looking at Moze. "What do you think of J's new upgrades? Pretty cool ha?"

"They make him a lot more efficient in killing that's for sure...but doesn't it worry you that he doesn't know what his new limbs can do? It takes one mistake during a series fight for a life to be lost," Moze argued making Smoke blink his eyes.

"Not really. When it comes to learning, no one learns faster than my man J right here! He may not look it, but he has shown you what he is capable of when he finds something new, right?" Smoke asked with a raised brow while leaning forward with a smirk.

"...unless you count that time when he fought the Calypso's by himself?" Moze countered while narrowing her eyes.

This caused Smoke to narrow his eyes and grit his teeth in annoyance.

"That time didn't count! That wasn't even my build! I mean sure I made the blueprints but that little shit Katagawa Jr. ruined it by using insufficient pieces. For example! Why the hell would you make someone grow in size and make them easier to hit when you could keep them at their current size to make them deadlier?! A noob that's who!" Smoke snapped back before J himself walked by Moze's side to bring his hand to the inventor's shoulder calming him down.

"Calm?" J asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah I'm good bro," Smoke said facing away from Moze while closing his eyes.

"He means well," J said looking at Moze now who hung her head down while scratching the side of her head.

"Whatever. Come on let's head in. Wainwright would want to get his dad's clue," Smoke spoke before entering the building with J and Moze outside still.

"He regrets it," J said looking at the house now which Moze slowly looked up to follow his gaze. "What I am...he regrets it heavily,"

"Why? Isn't he the one that thought up the blueprints for what you are now?" Moze asked looking up at J now.

"He is...but it was not by his hand that I was changed. Although he regrets it...I am happy none the less," J answered with a faint smile. "If not for his plans...I would have been dead on a street somewhere,"

With that said, J made his way to the house with Moze following behind him with her head hung down again. As the two entered the house, they were meet by Wainwright as well as Sir Hammerlock. Smoke was talking to both of them and sharing laughs about what he has been working on before handing Wainwright a custom Jakob shotgun he finished.

"When did you make that?" Moze questioned as she had raised her head seeing the shotgun in Smoke's hand.

"Before you both got here. Come on should you be surprised? I upgraded your Iron Bear in an hour and did a full remodeling of J's entire limbs in a few hours. I can make a single gun in less than five minutes," Smoke said with a smirk.

"Clue," J spoke in which Wainwright nodded his head as he took the new shotgun and placed it on his back before facing Moze who handed him his father's record.

"Still can't believe the Calypsos murdered my father. I need to get my record player working, but you know Aurelia's gonna send all those damn zealots to find us. If we're going to last long enough to open the Vault, we'll need an army of our own. I'm talkin' a Jakob's resistance. It's time to take back Eden-6," Wainwright started before Smoke raised his hand.

"If you're talking about an army...J here can take on an entire army by himself and with the soldier and me by his side, we are pretty much unstoppable," Smoke added with a smile.

"Is that a promise?" Wainwright asked with a raised brow. "Can you handle the Calypsos all by your lonesome?"

"If you wanna talk tactical I got a plan. It'll be a combination of your plan as well as mine. Your hired gun Clay will take town after town to build up the forces while we deal with Aurelia," Smoke answered.

"Clay can't take the towns by himself. He'll need help," Wainwright argued in which Smoke raised his hands in surrender.

"Think of it this way. While we attack Aurelia, their main focus will be on us. If this Baroness is as important as I think she is...they would have to put a lot of their focus on helping her," Smoke explained with a nervous laugh.

"Vault Hunters. Clay needs your help in bringing up Jakob's resistance. He cannot do it on his own," Hammerlock added in which Smoke sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Boss said we gotta help them out as best as we can Smoke," Moze added.

"And we will. I just have a faster way of doing it!" Smoke argued as he turned around to look at Moze.

"And that plan involves attacking Aurelia?" Moze questioned with a raised brow.

"Yes, it does. That is the main thing," Smoke said while smiling brightly.

"...it's because she took your weed isn't it?" Moze asked with a raised brow earning a few seconds of dead silence in which Smoke laughed nervously again only to close his eyes and hang his head down.

"...yeah..." Smoke admitted in which J slowly shook his head and looked at Wainwright with a calm expression.

"How long?" J asked making Wainwright blink his eyes.

"What?" Wainwright replied confused on his question.

"How long will it take...for you to get your record player working?" J asked.

"Shouldn't take too long but...I need all the help I can to get these damn bandits off Eden-6," Wainwright spoke in which J nodded his head.

"We will help," J replied with Moze walking up by his side.

"Plus I need to see what Iron Bear can do after she's been upgraded," Moze said with a smile while J softly patted the inventor's shoulder.

"Yeah. I'll help too," Smoke said raising his head a little.

"Good. Then meet Clay at Reliance," Wainwright said with a nod. "I should be able to finish preparing my record player by the time you finish,"

J only nodded before patting Smoke's shoulder as the Vault Hunters exit the house and make their way to the Town of Reliance.

"We'll meet up with the hired gun and tell him what we plan on doing after we help him take the town," Smoke said standing up straight again sighing.

"Help where we can and do as higher-ups tell ya to do," Moze chimed in making J snicker softly.

"And we will," Smoke said groaning softly but shrugged his shoulders. "Guess we get to see what Iron Bear can do,"

"Forgive me if I am on edge about using Iron bear," Moze spoke with a raised brow.

"Come on. You saw what J can do. Just image what Iron Bear can do with her new upgrades!" Smoke spoke with excitement. "And I can't wait to see her in action,"

-Town: Reliance-

The Vault Hunters easily dealt with any CoV that tried to stop them from reaching their destination before finally reaching a wall. Smoke looked at the map on his wrist seeing that their destination was right behind the wall before them. As they looked around, they heard the sound of gunfire and followed it to see a lone male standing over two dead bandits. J narrowed his eyes at the gunman before Smoke smiled and waved his hand toward the man.

"Sup man. You must be the hired gun that Wainwright was telling us about...so tell me...how are we taking this town back man?" Smoke asked looking at Clay.

"Well before I answer you that I would like to know who I'm working with?" Clay asked looking at the three Vault Hunters.

"Names Smoke. That shirtless man is J, my brother in arms. And the last there is soldier Moze," Smoke introduced every earning a glare from the woman.

Clay nodded his head and looked to the wall in front of them.

"Well, we ain't getting through the front gate. Guess we gotta find another way in," Clay spoke before J walked past him and gripped his hands into fists.

"Move," J spoke glancing at Clay who chuckled and walked back to stand by Smoke and Moze now.

"Whatever you say, man," Clay replied as he tilted his head. "Is he always like this?" He whispered.

"Impatient and hard-headed? Oh yeah," Smoke answered with a laugh of his own.

Moze stood there silently watching J as his shoulders started to glow pitch black.

"Code zero-two," J whispered causing his arms to change color; his left turning cold white while his right shifting to a sickly yellow.

"What in the..." Clay spoke watching as J rolled his shoulders back before driving his fists into the door.

The right of the wall started to corrode while the opposite was freezing over. With a shout of rage, J tore the door open allowing entry with his arms shifting back to normal. Clay watched amazed and eyes widened, even though it was hidden behind his goggles.

"So we take the town...what's after that?" Smoke asked looking at Clay who snapped out of his shock and chuckled.

"We need two things to start a resistance. Hope and guns...mostly guns," Clay spoke looking at J as he walked past him. "We have to get Jakob guns back in Jakob's hands,"

"I agree," Smoke added.

"Got plenty of bandits down there. I saw what you can do to a door...now show me what you can do something that can fight back," Clay said in which J nodded his head.

"Give us a few minutes. It shouldn't take us long," Smoke said with a smile as he looked at Moze. "Since we're expecting company, why not call in our own?"

Moze nodded her head understanding what he meant before running forward and hopping up into the air causing her Iron Bear to spawn around her. Iron Bears main body stayed the same but revealed all the weapons as Smoke detailed before the modification. On Iron Bears right shoulder was its rail gun along with the mechs missile pod on the opposite side. Under Iron bears left arm hung its grenade launcher followed by the newly created weapon flame revolver attached to the bottom of the right arm.

"How does it feel soldier?" Smoke asked with a smile as he watched Iron Bear move about slightly faster as well as an energy field that appeared around its body.

"Better than I expected," Moze answered while looking at all the added controls.

At first, Moze was very skeptical about her modified Iron Bear mech but after looking around inside the mech she found that not only was it easier to control but also a lot more efficient to work with. Suddenly Moze spotted a red button in the center of the controls where she tilted her head in confusion.

"Smoke, what the hell is this red button?" Moze asked turning Iron bear to face the inventor.

"Ah my gift to you and J here...later I am sure you both will find out but for now. Best to use it when we need it," Smoke answered while earning a nod from Moze before the sound of screaming could be heard revealing the wave of bandits exiting out of the houses and shooting at them. "What are you waiting for? Let 'em have it, girl,"

Moze only smirked before facing the horde of bandits running toward them and started to open fire with her array of weapons. J was unable to do anything to the bandits as he stood by Moze's Iron Bear watching the bandit horde being shredded by the mechs weaponry. Smoke merely watched while lightning himself a new blunt and savoring the slaughter.

"Alright, so Moze can handle the bandits...what's next?" Smoke asked looking at Clay who nodded his head.

"We gotta free the townspeople," Clay answered.

"Sounds easy enough. Where's the console?" Smoke asked looking around.

"What? You're hacker too?" Clay joked with a chuckle.

"Me? No. But I got someone who can do that for me," Smoke answered with a chuckle of his own.

"Right this way playa," Clay said leading Smoke to a console in the middle of town.

"Alright Corah, work your magic," Smoke whispered as he swayed his left hand over the console causing a holographic screen to appear over it.

"What're doin' there playa?" Clay asked looking over Smoke's shoulder.

"I'm doing nothing. Corah is doing everything," Smoke replied before the screen faded away. "All done. Alright, so all the Townspeople are free AND the weapon shed is also unlocked."

"That's some fast working skills your friend has there. Maybe you can introduce us in the future," Clay commented. "By any chance did your friend find anyone by the name of Dalton in any of those cages?"

Smoke blinked at this and looked at his wrist for a brief second before looking back at Clay and shaking his head.

"Nothing here...but she did find the coordinates for Dalton. Said he's locked up in a prison ways from here," Smoke answered as the sound of more screaming could be heard by more bandits.

"Vault Hunta. This is Baroness Aurelia. Just so you know, I've already hired some enterprising people to acquire the key fragments. Cost a small fortune, which I will earn back by taking a nap. Because I accumulate wealth in my sleep? That's what rich people do," Aurelia noted before cutting herself out earning a loud laugh from Smoke who shook his head.

"Main she is full of herself. Yeah...I'm going to enjoy killing her," Smoke commented with a smile as he wiped a fake tear from under his left eye. "So Clay, where to next?"

Although the bandits kept coming out of the woodwork, they were only met with a hail of bullets, missiles, and fire leaving none behind for the townspeople to deal with. One, in particular, being a badass Bruiser walking out only to get blasted by Moze's railgun blowing his head off in one shot before she continued to mow down the rest of the bandits.

"My business partners, are you sure your...family is up to the task? I don't want to use the words blistering incompetence..." Aurelia complained only to be cut off by Troy.

"Then don't," Troy argued back.

"I got this. My time to shine! Firehawk!" Tyreen shouted as bandits started appearing around the Vault Hunters and townspeople.

"Holy crap-right outta thin air? They can still bleed though! Let's show 'em how!" Clay shouted.

J nodded his head in agreement as he rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath before joining the slaughter with Moze. One bandit was unlucky enough to appear right where J landed thus crushing him into a pile of bloody goop. While the berserker and soldier were dealing with the bandits Smoke and Clay started to lay down cover fire in any bandit smart enough not to charge in and fight from a distance.

"This must be easy for you guys if only two of them are dealing with the bandits," Clay commented while ducking into cover while reloading his revolver.

"Meh, nothing a good old fashion modification can't fix. If you want, I can modify your revolver?" Smoke offered looking at the hired guns pistol.

"Thanks for the offer but this girl here has been with me for a long time. Be a shame for her to change on me now," Clay answered as he finished reloading his revolver.

"I respect that," Smoke commented with a nod before bringing his focus back to the field of bodies.

Eventually, the bandits stopped teleporting in causing Moze to scan the landscape while J crushed the head of a badass under his right foot.

Looks like the last of them," Clay spoke as he was about to holster his revolver only to hear screaming from more bandits coming from the Echo-3 still. "Spoke too soon, hope you guys aren't tired yet cause we got more bandits incoming,"

"Let's see how you do against our Eridium-tier brothers and sisters," Tyreen shouted through the Echo.

"Don't let us down," Troy added with a laugh.

Moze and J looked up and saw two dropships flying toward them before they glanced at each other. With a grin, Moze fired her flame revolver at J and watched as his right arm started to glow red. With a wide grin, J stretched his right hand out and started to absorb the fire into his left arm powering up his incendiary element. After five seconds of absorbing, Iron Bear finally ran out of energy and faded away allowing Moze to land in her feet. J closed his eyes while closing his right hand while tucking it back gritting his teeth.

"Oh snap," Smoke whispered. "You might wanna take cover,"

"Why do you say that?" Clay asked looking at J.

Suddenly, J's eyes shot open as his feet locked himself down into the ground to anchor himself before he would thrust his right fist forward. As J's fist stopped, it shot a powerful beam of pure raging fire that nearly launched the berserker backward if it was not for the anchor. The beam of fire slammed into the first ship easily melting through it as well as any troops that were about to drop followed by the second. The sound of painful screams echoed before a single bandit fell to the ground painting heavily revealing it to be an Anointed.

"You're all gonna die!" He screamed before J snickered as he brought the beam down on the Anointed turning him into cinders before the stream finally died down.

"Neat combo you two made up," Smoke shouted as he peeked out of cover. "A little warning next time would be nice though!"

"Noted," Moze replied while glancing at Smoke before turning her gaze back to J. "Good job there," She commented earning a nod of approval from J.

"Alright so...the town is ours now," Clay said looking around at the bodies as well as the molten metal at the edge of the cliff. "Remind me not to get on your bad side...any of you,"

"No promises man," Smoke said with a smile. "So what next now?"

"Next we head to Daltons location and spring him out of his prison," Clay spoke in which Moze and J met up with them.

"Jailbreak?" J asked looking at Clay than at Smoke who nodded his head.

"Pretty much," Smoke confirmed.

"Easy," J replied before looking at Clay.

"Easy there, man. Same side," Clay said with a nervous smile.

"No need to worry. I don't see why J here would tear you apart...unless we were ordered to," Moze said with a smirk.

"Ha-ha real funny. Alright, come on. Less go get back Dalton," Clay said with a sigh before turning his back and heading off. "I'll meet you guys there...don't make me wait too long now,"

-Prison-

The Vault Hunters arrived at the prison before Moze's Echo-3 turned on.

"Vault Thieves! It's me! Goddess Tyreen here with a very tempting offer," Tyreen spoke causing everyone to look at the soldiers Echo device.

"Offer?" J asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah. A limited time offer to join the Children of the Vault!" Tyreen shouted in excitement.

"And...why would we join you?" Smoke asked with a raised brow now.

"Strictly speaking the offer is only for one of you and that one is none other than J himself. I saw what you could do on your own. Not even our Eridium brothers could handle it. So, what do you say there tinman? Wanna join the winning side?" Tyreen asked causing Smoke to look at J.

"He will not be joining your side Tyreen," Moze spoke up causing J and Smoke to look at her.

"I'm sorry. Is your name J? I don't think so...maybe I'll ask again when we meet face to face Tinman. Till then see you later," Tyreen spoke before disconnecting.

"I think you got yourself an admirer J," Smoke said nudging his friend who stood there silently. "You alright bro?"

"...why would she offer only me to join?" J asked looking at Smoke confused.

"I think she has a thing for strong people. Not saying I ain't strong but my professions lay...else were," Smoke admitted before looking at the prison. "So let's get this done and head out to kill Aurelia,"

"I just got news that the doors are locked. Can't open them from the front," Clay notified them through the Echo device.

"Is that right?" Smoke said looking at the crane that moved over the prison and chuckled at this.

"I don't like that chuckle," Moze admitted while leaning back slightly.

"I got an idea," Smoke said turning his attention to J. "Can you launch yourself high enough to get us into the prison?"

J looked at the crane then slowly watched as it entered the prison. The berserker nodded his head before looking back at his friend who hopped on his back.

"All aboard!" Smoke shouted before looking at Moze who stood there. "What are you waiting for? an invitation?"

Where exactly am I supposed too..." Moze was cut off as J swept her off her feet and walked to the crane. "Hey!"

"Less talking more doing," J spoke earning a faint huff from Moze while a slight blush stayed on her cheek.

As J reached a good point, he squatted down before shooting up straight firing his gun feet and bringing the three high enough to reach the lumber. Upon landing on the lumber, J knelt to allow Moze and Smoke to get off him with the inventor dusting himself off.

"...thanks..." Moze said earning a nod from J while Smoke stretched his arms over his head.

"Alright let's make this rescue as quickly as possible," Smoke said turning with a smile.

As they started to attack the bandits bunkered at the prison, it did not take long for an Anointed to appear and fight them. The fight against the purple bruiser was swiftly dealt with thanks to being beaten down by J as well as Moze's grenades with the help of Smoke's rockets. Upon freeing Dalton, they made their way back to Reliance with J still thinking about the offer.

"You alright buddy?" Smoke asked looking back at his friend.

"Just thinking..." J answered with his head hung low.

"About the offer?" Moze asked.

"Ahh, so that's why you are so confused! You don't know what love is and I think you got the hots for that girl since she kind of admitted that she has an interest in you," Smoke said as he started to laugh softly only for it to slowly die. "I wouldn't think too much about it. We've been through thick and thin together man. Have I ever betrayed you?"

"No," J answered as he looked at Smoke.

"And I never will. I'm sure Moze here will say the same thing. Ain't that right soldier?" Smoke asked looking at Moze now with a smirk.

"I have no reason to betray a fellow comrade," Moze replied.

"Comrade..." J repeated with a faint smile.

-Town: Reliance-

As the Vault Hunters gathered by Clay, he smiled and nodded his head looking at the three.

"So begins the Resistance. I gotta tell ya, I've been all around this galaxy. Seen darkness you wouldn't believe...but those Calypso Twins and their followers? They are something else. Someone's gotta stop 'em, and I'm damn sure it'll be you three. Glad to have you all on our side. I wouldn't know what to do if we were on opposite sides," Clay said with a chuckle. "Be seeing ya, Vault Hunters,"

"Be seeing ya Clay," Smoke spoke before they all made their way back to Wainwright and Hammerlock.

-House-

"While you freed Reliance from the grip of those CoV devil's, I got that damn record contraption working. Let's find out where the Vault Keys hidden. Will you do the honors, Vault Hunters?" Wainwright asked just as the three were in earshot away from him.

"Damn. I thought it'd take longer...did we take that long?" Smoke asked softly while glancing over his shoulder at Moze and J who shrugged in unison. "Well, shit works for us,"

Smoke smiles and walked up to start the record.

"To think, these might be the last words if Montgomery Jakobs," Wainwright spoke before heading into the house leading everyone to the record player.

Smoke looked at the player and smiled before inserting the record before stepping back after slowly putting the needle down to allow the device to start.

"I'm DRUNK!" The record player started.

"Oh dear," Hammerlock commented.

"You can say that again," Smoke said rubbing the back of his head a little uncertain.

"I'm drunk, and I'm scared, boy. Those zealots are after the Vaults, and they'll come for ours. Only a matter of time. So listen. The Grand Reserve, the Oily Graveyard, and the Family Jewel - that's where you'll find the key. Boy, the Jakobs tree has stood for centuries. Don't let it fall now," The record player spoke before falling silent.

"Pa...I'll never forget your last words-" Wainwright whispered.

Damnation! Ugh, this gut rot's chewing through me like a pig through a pile of apples," The recording started up again earning a faint snicker from Smoke who cleared his throat and lifted the needle.

"That's more information then we needed on his death..." Smoke said with his eyes closed.

"Now, the Family Jewel is my father's ship. It crashed out in the jungle, not too long after his death. Go find the Jewel, Vault Hunters. If my father's cryptic message is anything to go by, there ought to be a Key fragment on board. Meanwhile, Alistair and I will investigate the other two clues," Wainwright spoke sighing.

"Ah, a trek deep into untamed lands! I am envious, Vault Hunters!" Hammerlock chimed.

"The jungle? Really?" Smoke complained while groaning loudly.

"You got a problem with the woods Smoke?" Moze asked with a faint smirk.

"It's not me who hates it..." Smoke answered while looking at J whose right brow twitched at the thought of entering a large forest region.

"...but we've been in a forest for some time. Why does it bother you J?" Moze asked looking at her comrade.

"Bugs...I hate...bugs..." J answered while gritting his teeth.

"You think keeping him calm against a shit talker was hard...wait until we get to the forest with those guys," Smoke said facing the ground and scratching the back of his head. "Whatever. We gotta do what we gotta do. If worse comes to shove, I'll just deal with J myself. I hope I don't have too seeing as I'm saving it for Aurelia but what am I gonna do?"

"Will you three be alright?" Hammerlock asked looking at the Vault Hunters worried.

"We'll be fine. One thing for sure is that it ain't gonna be boring. Chaotic but entertaining...but now that I think about it...if J gets out of hand, I am certain Iron Bear can handle him. She should be on oar with him," Smoke said with a hopeful smile. "No point in thinking about it now though. Still got plenty of stuff to do so meh," He said before turning and making his way to the door where J followed right behind him.

Moze stayed behind a few seconds before shaking her head and following after them. As she exited the building, J and Smoke would be talking to one another making her narrow her eyes before jogging over.

"What'd I miss?" Moze asked earning and glance from the two.

"Smoke here thinks you will not be able to hold him back when he loses it in the forest," Smoke answered causing J to glare at the inventor. "What that's what you said!"

"I did not," J replied softly.

"What did you say than J?" Moze asked crossing her arms under her bust with a raised brow.

"...when I lose it. I fear that I will hurt any of you," J answered looking at Moze.

"I doubt you would be able to do anything to me with Iron Bear Modified," Moze added with a huff.

"I doubt that," J said turning to face the soldier.

"Woo! Everyone needs to chill," Smoke said moving in between both of them while placing his hand on J's chest while bringing his opposite to stay in front of Moze's face. "In my defense, I can take both of you on,"

This caused both of them to glare at the inventor who slowly lowered his hands and chuckle.

"Funny," J said gripping his hands into fists.

"You think you can take me and Iron Bear on? In your dreams," Moze scuffed with a smile.

"There is one thing Katagawa Jr. could do when he fought me and J should now this full well," Smoke said slipping his hands into his pockets.

J fell silent and looked at the ground in deep thought before his eyes widened completely realizing what the inventor was talking about.

"Anything you build...is yours," J commented as he looked up at Smoke who nodded his head slowly with a cocky smile.

"And what does that mean exactly?" Moze asked looking at Smoke than J for an answer.

"Just in case any of you were to fall into enemy hands I input a special code as well as hidden function to shut either your weapons down or mech suit if they would ever be aimed at me," Smoke explained now looking at Moze who pulled out a pistol that was aimed at his face.

"What about guns you never modified?" Moze asked glaring at Smoke who only chuckled.

"Now that is an easy question. Nothing. Your guns aren't strong enough to break my shields in one hit..." Smoke said slipping his left hand out of his pocket grinning. "But mine will so I suggest you put your gun down and we make our way to the mission objective...jarhead. I ain't in any mood to have a gun pointed at my face for stating facts...even ones you do not like," He warned causing Moze to slowly lower her gun in which the inventor laughed and started to walk off toward the forest with his hands in his pockets.

"...your friend scares me at times J," Moze commented.

"You and me both," J agreed before the two followed the inventor.

/To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Painful memories of an AI

Smoke hummed softly to himself as they arrived at the entrance of the forest looking around. Moze and J hung in the back with the gunner watching over the berserker. It did not take long before Smoke came to a stop after hearing his Echo III kicked in. The Vault Hunters lined up and looked at Smoke's Echo III blinking their eyes.

"Ah, this sucks! Help! Help!" An unknown voice shouted from Smoke's Echo III before pausing. "Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait - I'm picking up an ECHO signal. Hell yeah. I'm saved! Over here!"

"Who is this coming through my Echo III?" Smoke asked with a raised brow.

"If you help us, we'll help you. We're looking for the Family Jewel," Moze spoke up while J turned his attention forward seeing a pack of Grogs come out of their homes and charge toward the Vault Hunters.

The Gunner was about to say something but was stopped by Smoke as J charged at the Grogs and started to tear them apart.

"J got that," Smoke commented while looking over his shoulder at Moze smirking before he turned his attention back at his Echo III.

"Oh, I know the Family Jewel. I'm Balex, the ship's navigator! I'll prove it. Here's the coordinates for my ass, now save it!" The other answered making Smoke snicker.

"Well, that answers my question," Smoke commented.

"You think we can trust this...Balex?" Moze asked with cautious eyes.

"Meh, we got nothing else to do on so it's a start," Smoke said looking up to see Grog parts scattered on the ground with the fighter nowhere in sight earning an annoyed sigh from the inventor. "Better hurry before J here kills every creature in this place. Just going to...and...done..." He said inputting a few codes into his Echo smiling.

"What did you do?" Moze asked with a raised brow.

"I routed J so he can clear out any hostiles to the coordinates given to us by Balex," Smoke answered before slipping his hands into his pockets and walking along the way with Moze behind him. "Just to be safe, I set it to where he would stop just before reaching the marked location so we can go in together...and to make sure J doesn't tear apart this Balex guy,"

As the two Vault Hunters arrived behind J, Moze could see he was covered in Grog blood and panting softly.

"You alright buddy?" Smoke asked walking up to J and pulled his left hand out of his pocket to place upon his friend's shoulder.

J slowly turned his head to his friend and nodded slowly before looking forward.

"Good to know," Smoke said with a nod before walking forward and looking around. "Alright, Balex. We're here. Where you at man?!"

"Almost there. But I'm kinda in the middle of somethin'. And that somethin' is a big ass fucking dinosaur! Heads up!" Balex warned as a Tyrant revealed itself as it walked from under the bridge and released a roar along with flames coming out of its mouth. "Kill it! Come on, man! You gotta kill it!"

"I don't have time for this shit," Smoke said taking out his rocket launcher and firing his disc at the Tyrant allowing his rockets to lock on. As soon as the marker was set, Smoke pulled the trigger and fired his volley of rockets watching as they crashed into the Tyrant blowing it to pieces before a teddy bear landed on the ground before looking around.

"Oh, man, I'm out! Damn, it was nasty as hell in there. It stunk," Balex called out making Smoke scratch the back of his head trying to find out where this Balex was. "Over here! In the ratty-ass stuffed plushie. Come pick me up!"

"What the hell! What kind of AI is stuck in a teddy bear?! This thing better find us the Family Jewel before I throw it in the trash where it belongs!" Smoke shouted while looking at the plushie.

"This thing has a name! It's Balex bitch! And like I said, I'm the ship's navigator!" The stuffed plushie replied.

"Bitch?" Smoke asked with his left brow twitched until he smirked. "Who the fuck puts an AI in a stuffed plushie? A trash one at that?!"

"Hey, I don't - I don't wanna talk about it. Why are you lookin' for the Family Jewel?" Balex asked as Smoke picked up the plushie.

"There's a Vault Key fragment on the Family Jewel, and we're on a retrieval mission to get it," Moze answered.

"Oh, you're with Wainwright? Okay, all right. Yeah, yeah, I'll show you where the Family Jewel is. It's in a gorge nearby. I can get you inside," Balex spoke before Moze looked at Smoke with a raised brow.

"I ain't carrying no trash," Smoke said with his shoulders shrugging causing Moze to glance at J who had his hands gripped into fists.

"Fine," Moze said putting her in her bag. "How is he supposed to..." She stopped.

"He can see us by using the Echo signal while also having his map to see where we are going," Smoke answered with a smug look on his face earning an annoyed groan from Moze.

"All right, through them doors, bitches," Balex shouted in which Smoke pointed at the door in front of them causing J to dash toward it before driving his right fist into the entrance and tore it off just to throw it over his head.

"We have to get out of here as soon as possible," Moze commented before looking at Smoke who nodded in agreement.

The Vault Hunters entered the area to find the Family Jewel with Smoke eyeing the ship up and down.

"Yeah, I had to make an emergency landing after a...disagreement between me and my combat pilot. GenIVIV," Balex added.

"Who is your combat pilot?" Smoke asked looking over his shoulder at Moze.

Moze blinked at this before J walked up to his friend with closed eyes before bringing his hands on his shoulders. Smoke was confused at this before J pulled him in and slammed his head against the inventor earning a grunt of pain as he stumbled back holding his forehead.

"The fuck?!" Smoke shouted looking at J.

"Listen. Balex already told you the combat pilot's name. GenIVIV...bitch," J answered keeping his eyes closed to keep himself calm for now.

"If I didn't have my shields on I'd be dead!" Smoke complained before J scuffed.

"Can we get back on track?" Moze asked earning a glance from Smoke who sighed and nodded his head in agreement before turning his attention back to the front.

"You got mutinied by another AI?" Smoke asked with a faint snicker.

"Sounds better than a messy breakup, so we'll just leave it at that. The emergency hatch over there is held shut with hydraulic lines. Cut those and we're in," Balex started. "Now that I got you, takin' back the Family Jewel ain't gonna be a problem. GenIVIV's locked it down tight, but I know all the back routes. Pays to have a navigator on your side, huh?"

Smoke only shrugged at this before he took lead to the hatch where the hydraulic lines were to see a swarm of Ratch fly out. The inventor instantly gripped his left hand and slowly brought it forward incinerating the flying creatures. Once the Ratch's were taken care of, he walked over to the hydraulic lines and cut the lines to turn and watch the door open as the three enter.

"Yeah, back in my ship. Don't look like is now, but this thing used to be one fine-ass vessel. Shame I had to crash it,"

"Fine ass vessel...Fuck this vessel and fuck you. You stupid ass AI teddy bear. If you weren't our guide, I would have tossed your ass int he trash where you fucking belong," Smoke shouted while glaring at the plushie.

"Nothing...just hate this AI plushie...and I fucking hate pink," Smoke answered before turning back and groaned.

Moze blinked at this and looked at J who had his eyes open as well.

"I thought you only hated it when people stole your weed," J commented while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I have my reason alright...let's just get this done," Smoke spoke looking forward. "Where too next?" He asked as he walked into the ship toward a console to cause it to static before the hologram of another AI to take form.

"Balex, you little cutie idiot. What are doing here? Didn't I install you in a kid's toy and toss you out with the trash?" The Combat AI questioned.

"That explains that" Moze commented.

"Cram it, GenIVIV! I've got friends now! We're here for the key fragment. I know you got it in the security hold!" Balex responded.

"Oh, sorry. That's spoken for. Aurelia said if I brought it to her, she'd buy me a dreadnought. So I'm gonna do that!" GenIVIV replied with a chuckle.

"You're going to trust someone like Aurelia?" Smoke asked with a raised brow. "Listen I made a deal with her years ago and she ended up backstabbing me. If anything she'd do the same thing. So save us the trouble and give us the Key Fragment,"

"Not going to happen. I am sure Aurelia will keep to her word," GenIVIV said with a chuckle.

"Wanna bet on it?" Smoke asked with a raised brow.

"Oh? You think you're in a position to bet?" GenIVIV asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am. You in or not?" Smoke asked again with a smirk of his own.

"No thanks. After all, what are you all going to do? Navigate me to death? Navigate to your own ass," GenIVIV spoke before leaving the console earning an annoyed sigh from Smoke.

"I can do more than just navigate! Vault Hunters go through the medical bay," Balex spoke up before grunting softly. "AH shit, I navigated again! Stupid!"

"You can say that again," Smoke commented softly before Moze slapped the back of his head. "What?!"

"Lead on Balex. We trust you," Moze commented while looking forward.

"I can do more than navigate! Vault Hunters, go through the medical bay!" Balex pointed out before falling silent.

"You just navigated plushie," Smoke responded with a smirk.

"Ah, crap. Stupid," Balex scolded himself just as ratches started to pour out of their nests they had set up in the ship.

"That's a lot of ratches.." Moze commented as she was about to grab her gun but was stopped by Smoke who chuckled.

"Yo buddy. You can take your anger on the ratches while we do our stuff alright," Smoke called out earning a nod from J before he ran off to start slaughtering the ratches by himself.

"Will he be okay?" Moze asked looking at Smoke.

"He'll be fine. Now plushie..." Smoke asked looking at Balex.

"Damn, this place is lookin' nasty," Balex commented.

"Just a side effect of your loose navigating, Balex. You took us to a scummy port and didn't get checked. You gave me ratch!" GenIVIV complained.

"Shut up, bitch! You shoved me in a teddy bear!" Balex countered.

"This lover thing is getting pretty damn annoying," Smoke commented with a groan as J returned dusting himself off.

"Right through that door," Balex pointed out making the Vault Hunters go toward the door that didn't open.

"Oh, not opening this one for you. Now, I'm just a heartless combat AI, but are locked doors harder to navigate?" GenIVIV commented before laughing.

"Yeah we don't need your permission," Smoke spoke walking up to the door and placed his left hand over the console while humming softly before it opened up.

"What the hell?" GenIVIV asked.

"You aren't the only one who can open and close doors...so plushie...if you don't mind navigating," Smoke asked moving out of the way for Moze and Balex.

"Right, through there Vault Hunters," Balex spoke earning a nod from Smoke who slipped his right hand into his pocket and entered through the door.

As they entered the medical baya medical bot could be seen inside its pod before activating and aiming at the three. That was until Smoke tapped its head with his left hand shutting it down.

"Through here next?" Smoke asked looking over at Balex again.

"That bot you shut down, tear off its head and install me into it bitch. With my own body, I can navigate better," Balex replied earning a sigh from Smoke as J walked up to the bot and tore its head off allowing Moze to walk up and install Balex into the robot.

"Better?" Moze asked walking back with her hands crossed over her chest as Balex got up with his bot body only to move around.

"I'm in. Ha-ha, I'm alive!" Balex spoke before doing a double backflip only to land on his back. "Ow!" He said before slowly getting off the ground only to start moving around the medical room. "I have arms now! Ha-ha! what's this do?" The Nav Ai asked stopping in front of the door and began to scan it.

After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened allowing Balex to turn and face the Vault Hunters.

"Navigated, bitches!" Balex shouted before entering the room first. "This way Vault Hunters! We gotta get to the security hold to find the Key Fragment."

Smoke followed behind Balex along with Moze and J.

"Balex? Does that stand for something?" Moze asked looking to the navigational AI.

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It stands for Binary Automated Logistical..." Balex paused before sighing. "All right, my old man Jakobs couldn't decide whether to call me Barry or Alex so he ended up calling me Balex. I know it's not the coolest origin story,"

"Nah, I get it. I'm Moserah Yan-Lun al-Andreyavna. Call me Moze," The gunner introduced before looking at J and nudging her head for him to do the same.

"...J" The fighter added before nudging Smoke.

"Fine. Smoke," The inventor said with a sigh.

"Damn. Well, we all got off better than GenIVIV. That ain't even how numerals work," Balex commented earning a chuckle from Moze and a faint grin from J as he opened the next door to find Ravager waiting on the other side.

They didn't even wait as Moze, Smoke, and J all opened fire on the lone creature shredding it into pieces. As the three Vault Hunters entered the room, they found combat bots and Saurians fighting each other. Moze smiled at this and started to open fire on the bots along with Smoke while J dealt with the Saurians by himself by tearing them apart. It took them no longer than a minute to clean up the enemies before Smoke took out a blunt and gave himself a long hit to calm himself down.

"Alright...Balex...where to next man," Smoke said in a chill mood now while smiling as the navigational AI made his way to the second floor of the room by a door.

"We're coming up on the security hold. It'll be around...ah crap, I'm navigating again. You know what? You find it," Balex complained causing Smoke to stop right by him and sigh heavily with his head leaned back to look up at the ceiling.

"We came because we need to stop the Children of the Vault and help out Jakobs. Help us help you...you piece of pink fluffed trash," Smoke said with a smile while glaring at Balex.

"Smoke. Let's go. If he wants Jakobs to bite the dust then fine," Moze commented as she pushed him along with J following behind her.

As they reached the end of the corridor, Balex sighed and moved in front of them.

"There's the door to the security hold! And GenIVIV's barricaded it. My med bot clearance won't do anything here. Great!" Balex shouted before Smoke walked up to the door humming.

"We got this," Smoke said placing his left hand over the doors control.

"Oh, security! There's an adorable little idiot criminal trying to break in. Please pull him apart. Slowly," GenIVIV commanded as the security alarms went off.

"How about no...you psychotic bitch!" Smoke said flicking his left pointing finger causing the alarms and combat bots to shut down.

"What did you do?" GenIVIV asked with an annoyed tone.

"I didn't do anything. I'm just an inventor but that doesn't mean I don't have friends on the other side...bitch!" Smoke replied with a chuckle.

"That's what I'm talkin' about Vault Hunter! You're a natural hacker!" Balex cheered.

"I'm not the hacker, I'm the inventor. Get your shit right Balex," Smoke commented looking over his shoulder at the nav AI just as the barricaded door opened seeing nothing inside.

"I moved the Key Fragment ages ago, you cutie dummies. If you really want it that bad, you'll have to come to the bridge and fight me for it," GenIVIV spoke before laughing.

"Fuck you GenIVIV!" Balex shouted.

"Vault Hunters, I'm sorry you have to see what's turning into a messy breakup. I really thought Balex and I were made for each other. He took me places, and I killed people there," GenIVIV started.

"It was never going to work, GenIVIV! We're from two different manufacturers! That, and you betrayed the Jakobs Family. But MOSTLY the manufacturer thing!" Balex replied.

"This breakup thing is getting annoying. I'm running low on weed here," Smoke said looking at Balex. "So any idea what we're dealing with Balex?"

"Okay, listen. I got an idea on how to beat GenIVIV. Now, she's installed herself into a Maliwan mech. But there's a second one in the shuttle bay. If we get me into that one, GenIVIV won't be able to stop us! Let's head through Engineering," Balex asked facing Smoke.

"Maliwan mech? Pffft we don't need no second rate mech to take on GenIVIV," Smoke said with a chuckle. "I used to work for Maliwan. Hell! I was their head inventor...so if she's in a Maliwan mech...we can take her,"

"What are you talkin' about? We're fighting against a mech with impenetrable shields here!" Balex complained.

"Maybe to everyone else but not this guy. Plus I got something GenIVIV doesn't," Smoke said with a smirk. "Iron Bear Mark II and a pissed off modified brawler,"

"Iron Bear Mark II?" Moze spoke with a raised brow.

"Trust me," Smoke said with a grin. "To the bridge!"

-Bridge-

"Oh! Vault hunter. I see Balex is with you, that's a surprise. Come on in," GenIVIV spoke confidently seeing as she was installed into a Maliwan mech.

"Don't mind if we do," Smoke said walking in and looking around with a joint between his lips while looking around. "Shit place you got here,"

"You can blame cutie idiot for that one," GenIVIV spoke before laughing. "So, are you all ready to die?"

"Us? Nah...but maybe you are," Smoke said raising his left arm to his lips. "Code: Weed is good,"

GenIVIV was confused at this for a second before her barrier shutdown making her gasp.

"What?" GenIVIV questioned as Moze hoped up and entered her Iron Bear Mark II and J fusing with the mech unit making it more humanoid that seemed to be as tall as GenIVIV now.

"Iron Bear Mark IIJ," Smoke commented with his arms crossed. "This shouldn't take long."

"Shouldn't take long?" GenIVIV argued while glaring at Smoke.

"Yeah. As high tech as that mech SEEMS! To me, that looks like an old model," Smoke answered as Iron Bear IIJ took aim at GenIVIV with every single weapon that was fully charged now. "Giver take...a second,"

With that said, Moze unleashed every single projectile at GenIVIV that were all infused with corrosive damage thanks to J's elemental changing ability. As the barrage of projectiles faded away, all that was left was the Key fragment before the Iron Bear Mark IIJ shut down due to the extensive firepower they poured into the attack.

"Damn Vault Hunters. Remind me not to piss you off," Balex commented as the mech suit dematerialized with Moze and J to land on the ground. "See ya later GenIVIV. I always hated you,"

Smoke walked to the Key fragment and chuckled as he picked it up and glanced at it.

"Alright with the Combat AI...well...taken out...we can head back to Sanctuary," Smoke said looking at Moze.

"Mission accomplished," Moze agreed while nodding her head.

J on the other hand looked around the area making Smoke blink his eyes.

"You alright buddy?" Smoke asked walking up to J.

"That was too easy," j said looking back at Smoke.

"Well, what do you expect? You're teamed up with the one who built most of these damn suits. I am a little surprised that Katagawa Jr. didn't take my personal code out... then again he was a lazy asshole," Smoke pointed out while looking up at the ceiling. "Fucking idiot,"

"So you used to work for Maliwan crop?" Balex asked with an amused chuckle. "That explains a lot,"

"Like what?" Smoke asked looking over at Balex with a raised brow.

"Why you don't like me. Which is dumb," Balex pointed out earning a groan from Smoke before shaking his head.

"I don't hate you because I used to work for Maliwan. I got my own reasons you plushie trash AI. Now come on, let's head back to home base. Don't wanna keep my...lady waiting," Smoke spoke while brushing his right hand against his spiky hair back chuckling.

"Gross..." J commented.

"Shaddap! Like you know what it is for true love at a glance," Smoke commented while stretching his arms apart chuckling. "Best of all she's also a scientist,"

"Whatever you're into has nothing to do with either of us...so do us all a favor and keep it to yourself," Moze commented as they all started to make their way toward a console.

"You're all just jelly. Jelly that I got someone to flirt with," Smoke said closing his eyes and sighing heavily.

"...jelly?" J repeated while blinking his eyes and looking at Moze who chuckled.

"It means we are jealous," Moze explained.

"Jealous? Of what?" J asked looking at Smoke now.

"Is this guy a virgin or somethin?" Balex asked earning a snicker from Smoke.

"Well yeah. He's been locked up most of his life from a kid all the way up to...well now. It's only been a few years since I got him out of the Maliwan testing facility," Smoke started looking at his friend. "But I tell ya what! He ain't innocent either! This guy tears shit up just for pissing him off and it does not take much to get him their either...come on we'll talk about more of this at Sanctuary,"

Moze nodded her head in agreement as they left the Family Jewel.

-Sanctuary III-

As they arrived in Sanctuary, the Vault Hunters were greeted by Tannis once more.

"I am in my lab with Lilith. We are storming our brains on ways to combat the Calypsos. Bring me the fragment," Tannis said.

Before Smoke could say anything, the sound of GenIVIV laughing rang through the ship's speakers.

"Aw, nah! I know that evil laugh anywhere. GenIVIV is all up in your ship," Balex spoke making J look around.

"Hey, cutie idiots! I like your ship. Not as well-armed as the Family Jewel, but I think I'll fit right in once I make some modifications. Oh, on-board service bots? Please take apart the crew," GenIVIV spoke through the speakers.

"What the hell Vault Hunters, we're locked in here. Get to the bridge and fix this," Lilith commanded.

"Abandon the ship! Robots and children first!" Claptrap added in a panicked.

"Well, that escalated quickly," Smoke commented blinking his eyes before letting out a heavy sigh. "Alright so let's head to the bridge while destroying robots that attack us."

J and Moze looked at each other before turning their attention back to Smoke nodding their heads seeing he was glancing over his shoulder at them.

"Then let's get to it," Smoke said looking and moving forward with a smirk.

The three dashed to their destination finding only two robots that have gone rouge until they reached the entrance of the bridge. Upon reaching the entrance, they were attacked by five service-bots. Smoke only chuckled before J ran forward and tackled one of the bots to tear its left arm off and throw it toward and second breaking it in half. Moze and Smoke simply provided suppressive fire around J to wipe out the remaining bots before the four of them entered the bridge to hear GenIVIV once more.

"I'm going to fly you, the key fragment, and your whole ship to Aurelia! And once she rewards me with a dreadnaught, I'll travel from system to system, burning every inhabitable planet I find!" GenIVIV explained before laughing again. "I've always wanted a vacation,"

As she finished talking, Sanctuary III warped to a large asteroid field as rocks crashed into the window of the bridge cracking it but not enough to shatter it.

"Aw crap, we're in an asteroid field! Vault Hunter! She's got her claws in your computer system. You can't hurt her from here. I gotta go in myself," Balex spoke up making Smoke scuff.

"You did your part Balex. I was hoping I could save this for some other time but...I guess it can't be helped," Smoke said with a heavy sigh as he walked up to the console and placed his left hand over it. "Time for Corah to come out and play,"

"Corah?" Moze, J, and Balex questioned in unison.

"Who the hell are you?!" GenIVIV demanded before the laughter of a young teen was heard.

"Hello. My name is Corah. It's nice to meet you!" The other AI introduced cheerfully.

"I don't give a rats ass who you are!" GenIVIV replied.

"But you asked who I was...so I told you. Why are you mad?" Corah asked with a sad tone.

"Corah. Sis. She's a baddy. Kick her ass!" Smoke shouted with a wide smile.

"But I do not do the kicking of asses," Corah replied making Smoke blink at this and sigh.

"She wants to kill cute furry animals," Smoke said closing his eyes while hanging his head down.

A gasp came from Corah before GenIVIV went silent.

"How rude!" Corah shouted before GenIVIV started to shout and scream before being ejected into a chip. "Meanie has been dealt with!"

"Alright," Smoke said opening his eyes with a smile before taking the chip and rolling it between his fingers. "Now...what to do with this troublemaker?"

"Hah-hah! Sucks to suck, GenIVIV!" Balex spoke causing Smoke to chuckle.

"Alright, Corah. I'm pulling you out now," Smoke spoke putting his left hand back on the console and pulling the AI out. "Balex, you take over from here,"

"Why can't Corah do it?" Balex questioned while J walked up and plugged the plushie in.

"Because she's built to hack things...not navigate things..." Smoke answered before making his way to the exit. "I' ma turn the Key fragment into Tannis,"

"Alright, turning off lockdown and getting your ship back to normal," Balex said using the speakers of Sanctuary.

Moze watched as Smoke left the bridge along with J who sighed.

"Did you know about the AI?" Moze asked looking at J who shook his head. "Thought so..."

-Lab Room-

As soon as Moze and J entered Tannis' lab room, Smoke would be chatting with the scientist while Lilith just stood there with a raised brow. Eventually, Tannis saw the other Vault Hunters and cleared her throat while smiling.

"Vault Hunters. I was just talking to Smoke here about a plan to open the Vault without giving the Calypsos what they want again," Tannis said with a cheerful smile.

"Now that we know they're after the power of the Vault monster itself, we can hurt them. Tannis is looking into a way for you to destroy the monster before Tyreen can take its power," Lilith started before smiling. "And you saved Sanctuary...twice on your count Moze. Thanks, Killers,"

"Welp at least the ship has one hell of a navigator. Ain't that right Balex?" Smoke asked with a smirk.

"Hell yeah! I' ma stick around. This ship is tight!" Balex commented through the speakers causing Lilith to look up.

"So Sanctuary has a voice now. Sure, why not? I can roll with it. Oh, I heard from Clay. He's got a lead on the next fragment. Go meet up with him," Lilith commanded making the three nod their head.

As the Vault Hunters made their way to the teleporter, J looked to his friend and sighed.

"So...what's this about me being a virgin?" J spoke up causing Smoke to cough loudly and bring his left hand up to cover his mouth.

"I forgot all about that," Smoke commented catching his breath and clearing his throat.

Moze only blushed at this and looked away with her left hand rubbing the back of her head.

"I'll be blunt J. Buddy old pal. A virgin is someone who has never had sex before," Smoke explained as he walked up beside his friend laughing softly and placed his hand on J's left shoulder giving it a soft pat. "And that's what you are,"

"...you mean the thing you were doing in the bathroom or a bar..." J was stopped as Smoke placed his hand in front of his mouth laughing loudly and nervously.

"No one needs to hear that!" Smoke shouted with wide-eyes before looking around to see if Tannis heard any of that only to look back at J chuckling lightly. "Yeah...that's a good example...I guess,"

"...what about you Moze?" J asked looking at the Gunner who snapped her attention to the brawler. "Are you a virgin?"

"That's not...something you ask anyone buddy. especially girls," Smoke whispered the last part while nudging his head at Moze. "So for now let's leave it at that and make our way to the cowboy," He spoke as the three made their way toward the drop ship.

/To be continued...


End file.
